Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Shedding...

 

 

Like snakes, lizards shed their skin.

This one is in the middle of that shedding,

frozen almost, not moving.

 

It must be a difficult process,

making them vulnerable,

like us when we go through changes -

shedding the layers of our defenses,

opening up to the world and love!

 

When I was much younger

I used to take vacation days from myself!

I would pretend to be the person that I really wanted to be!

 

It has taken most of my life

to shed the things that were in the way of my being that person.

But here I am, most days,

the person I always wanted to be!

 

(Too bad I couldn't get new skin too!)

 

 

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

Go Placidly...

 

Does anyone remember this?

 

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

 

That worthiness is the thing that was missing in my early years.

There is a book that has convinced me that I am equally deserving of my life

as anyone or anything in the universe -

that the universe spawned everything and everyone to this moment and beyond -

each of us unique and meant to be here!

 

 

 

 

 

The book, is THE GREAT WORK, OUR WAY INTO THE FUTURE, by Thomas Berry

In this book you find the amazing story of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and how they revered their place in nature and the universe, and had deep respect for all life.

"Desiderata" was translated by Max Ehrmann in 1927

 

 

 

 

Why Not?

 

 

Life longing for itself...

 

 

 

 

Quote from Sweet Honey on the Rocks quoting Kahlil Gibran.

Tadpoles, 2 generations, life goes on and on - no matter what the humans are doing!

Birds, bees, bugs, frogs,squirrells - all of it!

And Why not?

 

©LaineQuinn 2022

That Light...

 

 

The way the light catches the sails

at a certain time of day...

it's irresistible,

delicious,

wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Schooner Freedom returning to safe harbor.

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

 

 

A Thing Among Others...

 

 

I am a thing

among other things.

 

That line from the book The Alphabet of Grace,

seemed to me to equalize everything.

 

Me, the lizard, the leaf, you-

We are all just here,

doing what we do

with all of the rest of nature and things!

 

Why be so serious?

Relax.

Enjoy!

 

You are just a thing

among other things!

 

No better

and no worse either!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book by Frederick Buechner.

Photo of lizard on a thing, at the edge of the garden, in St. Augustine Florida.

© 2021 Laine Quinn

Parts reprinted from Laine's Blog!

Boogie Boarding!

 

 

Sea oats in the breeze

Sun getting ready to set

One more wave - no two!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vilano Beach, July 2022

©2022 LaineQuinn 

 

 

What's Up is Down...

 

What's up is down!

 

And what's down is up!

 

 

It stretches the mind...

 

 

 

Reflections

©LaineQuinn2022

 

Missing Photo

 

Unfortunately, Monday, there was no photograph of the snails as I moved them into the grass and continued walking the dog.

 

So, to make up for it, here are another photo for you to enjoy!

 

 

A tiny frog, just graduated from the tadpole pond!

 

 

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn2022

 

 

 

 

Wonder!

 

Small Wonders

 

Snails together on

the sidewalk, two tiny snails, one

larger - Mother and son? Sisters?  Brothers? Friends?

 

Where are they going?

Together?!

 

 

 

 

Kindness...

 

Try not to resist an urge toward kindness -

kindness and compassion-

especially towards those closest to you.

 

Kindness has a way of smoothing the edges and easing the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lucy the cat spreading the love!

©LaineQuinn 2022

Golden Sun...

 

 

There are songs that we sang forever

and perhaps never noticed the poetry of the lyrics,

like this line:

..a drop of golden sun.

From which song?

?

 

 

 

 

Thanks to J.M. Akers - The song is from "The Sound Of Music", ...do a dear a female dear, ray - a drop of golden sun!

Reprinted from June 2013 from LainesBlog

©LaineQuinn

When Terrible Things Happen...

 

In my sign language class on Wednesday morning,

the teacher asked for a moment of silence.

No one had to ask her why.

 

After that you could feel the grief in the room

and we talked about the senseless loss of life

and the incompetence of those in power to do anything.

 

 

Later, at the end of class one woman told us she had rescued a large turtle

that had escaped from the pond behind her house.

Another shared her story of a turtle laying eggs in her yard!

 

The next day I spied two little birds that I'd never seen before

flittering about and bickering, right in front of me!

And then they flew off!

Yellow and white and light gray.

 

These things help heal us and ease the pain,

they bring us back from the edge of despair.

 

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn 2022

Flowers...

 

"...flowering plants were revolutionary in their appearance on the earth

some two hundred million years ago,

are dominant on land from the arctic to the tropics,

and are crucial to our survival."

 

Since reading those lines in Rebecca Solnit's book, Orwell's Roses,

I haven't been able to look at a flower without a deep sense of wonder

and gratitude!

 

Without flowers and their seeds,

birds and humans would not have evolved.

Period!

 

Without flowers and their seeds,

birds and humans would disappear from the earth.

 

Amen!

 

 

 

 

Quote from Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Flowers from Baltimore and St. Augustine, Mums, Lilies, Hibiscus

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

 

 

Rock Solid...

 

 

This solid chair, situated in a garden beneath a huge live oak tree is made up of trillions of bouncing molecules,

just like you and me.

Sometimes we feel as grounded as a boulder.

Other times scattered as the northern lights.

Most days fall somewhere in between.

 

Having unshakable faith that life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to do is difficult at times,

but worth whatever effort it might take to arrive there.

So, sit, and be grateful for who you are, no less than the moon and stars and the mighty oaks.

 

 

 

 

 

Photograph taken at the Cummer Museum and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida

Reprinted from LainesBlog, January 4, 2012

©LaineQuinn2022

 

This solid chair, situated in a garden beneath a huge live oak tree is made up of trillions of bouncing molecules,

just like you and me.

Sometimes we feel as grounded as a boulder.

Other times scattered as the northern lights.

Most days fall somewhere in between.

 

Having unshakable faith that life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to do is difficult at times,

but worth whatever effort it might take to arrive there.

So, sit, and be grateful for who you are, no less than the moon and stars and the mighty oaks.

 

 

 

 

 

Photograph taken at the Cummer Museum and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida

Sunday Morning...

 

Jupiter sailing past Venus in the early morning hour.

 

 

Venus is the brighter planet although Jupiter is larger, it's much farther away!

That was Sunday morning, just before sunrise.

Each day Jupiter moves farther away from Venus.

 

But what a wonderful pair!

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn 2022, St. Augustine, Florida

Earth Day!

 

There we are

on that little blue ball

happily floating through space

 

that gorgeous blue ball

we call our home planet

spinning out the seasons

and the days and nights

as we delight in the joys of being alive

 

seeing the flowers and birds and sunsets

oceans rivers mountains and valleys -

our very own earth.

 

 

 

 

 

NASA photo of the earth from outer space.

What Comes Next...

 

 

Collectively it is time that we imagine a better world.

No matter what happens in the next months or years,

it is time to put our minds on better things.

 Call it the power of positive thinking,

of visualizing,

of collective prayer -

it all works and can change the world.

 

Psychopathic leaders of politics and industry - be warned -

it is time for the Human takeover of our world.

Time to imagine a world where we live harmoniously with the earth,

harmoniously with each other - near and far,

harmoniously with all creatures -great and small.

A world in partnership.

A world of compassion and love and generosity.

 

If it fits in your mind,

it fits in your world.

 

We are more than what we can imagine.

 

Collectively it's time to imagine

what comes after -

to dream big and have faith in the human heart,

in the human desire for connection.

 

 

 

 

Photo of Park in Godollo Hungary, outside Budapest.

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, October 2020

©LaineQuinn2022

Peace of Mind...

 

 

An old Spring House in San Miguel, Mexico -

a reminder to be grounded -

in our friendship with ourselves,

with nature,

with each other.

 Grounded in uncertainty, and upheaval,

and accepting the times we find ourselves in.

Grounded in whatever way you get grounded,

for your very own peace of mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from LainesBlog October 20, 2020.

©LaineQuinn 2022

What If?

 

 

What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,

simply because you want to be here?

 

You like a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from LainesBlog 

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,

simply because you want to be here?

 

You like a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from LainesBlog 

©LaineQuinn 2022

The Language of Love...

 

 

Resembling luminescent jewels,

the colors of the ocean at sunset

on a calm evening,

raise the spirit,

like the sails of a great ship filling with a welcome breeze.

 

Filling the heart with Love!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

 

St. Augustine Beach, 2.10.14.

Reprinted from Laine's blog, 2014, with additions!

©LaineQuinn2022

More Pelicans...

 

 

Landing gear down...

Check.

 

 

Landing gear up...

 

 

Check.

 

These Brown Pelicans, up close enough to see the accordion wings against the sky,

are proof positive that we live in a very beautiful, complex,

and fascinating world.

 

You are clear for takeoff!

 

 

 

Saint Augustine Beach Pier, once again hosting the people who fish and the birds who love them.

Reprinted from LainesBlog, February 2015

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

Love Letters...

 

   

 

Remember when people used to write letters to one another?

A lost art, to be sure.

 

 

 

 

 

Love letters on Flagler's Fishing Pier.

Reprinted from LainesBlog, February 2015, with additions from Laine! 

©LaineQuinn2022

Pelican Sets Sail...

 

Does a pelican in the water ever doubt that he can raise his sails and take to the air?

In three powerful strokes, this huge bird is airborne and glides away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn 2022, Republished from LainesBlog January 2012.

Dolphin Rising...

 

 

Coming up for air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Jake for encouraging me to get my camera out, otherwise I would have missed this shot! Cape Charles, Virginia, August, 2010.

©Laine Quinn 2022, Reprinted fro LainesBlog, January 2012

 

 

 

Coming up for air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Jake for encouraging me to get my camera out, otherwise I would have missed this shot! Cape Charles, Virginia, August, 2010.

©Laine Quinn 2022, Reprinted fro LainesBlog, January 2012

 

 

Keeping It Simple...

 

My Christmas Tree this year is a Live Oak Tree!

 

The tinsel is silvery Spanish Moss.

 

The ornaments are Squirrels and Birds and Lizards!

 

The Star at the top is our very own Star, the Sun!

 

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE! 

 

 And this is my Christmas Card to Everyone! 

 

With Love,

Laine

 

 

 

 

 

Sign created by Aden with Lizard lazing on top!

Birds are, Black and White Warbler, Red Bellied Woodpecker and unknown maybe sparrow or warbler!

©Laine Quinn 2021

Home...

 

 

 

A lot of people will be traveling over the coming weeks,

going home.

 

Where is home? 

 

Is it where you spent your childhood?

 

Or where you choose to live?

 

Is home a moveable feast?

 

Do we carry it within us?

 

 

Is it a place we cherish or a person we love?

 

Is it all of these things?

 

A place, a person, where you've been and where you're going

 

and where you are right now?

 

 

The heart and soul of home

 

seem to be everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Airplane window, setting sun, clouds.

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, November 2012, long before traveling became so precarious because of the pandemic.

©Laine Quinn 2021

 

 

 

 

 

A lot of people will be traveling over the coming weeks,

going home.

 

Where is home? 

 

Is it where you spent your childhood?

 

Or where you choose to live?

 

Is home a moveable feast?

 

Do we carry it within us?

 

 

Is it a place we cherish or a person we love?

 

Is it all of these things?

 

A place, a person, where you've been and where you're going

 

and where you are right now?

 

 

The heart and soul of home

 

seem to be everywhere!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Airplane window, setting sun, clouds.

Reprinted from Laine's Blog, November 2012, long before traveling became so precarious because of the pandemic.

©Laine Quinn 2021

 

 

It's A Lie...

 

It is a lie - any talk of God

that does not

comfort

you.

 

 

 

 

 

Poem by Meister Eckhart, 13th century mystic, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

From the Penguin publication, Love Poems From God, Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West.

Copyright © 2002 Daniel Ladinsky and used with his permission.

 

Re-Posted from Laine's Blog, November 2012

 

It is a lie - any talk of God

that does not

comfort

you.

 

 

 

 

 

Poem by Meister Eckhart, 13th century mystic, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

From the Penguin publication, Love Poems From God, Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West.

Copyright © 2002 Daniel Ladinsky and used with his permission.

 

Setting Sun...

 

 

The sun sets on another day

another week

another year.

 

 

 

 

 

©2021 Laine Quinn

Inlet, Vilano Beach

 

Gratitude...

 

Grateful for all the people who have come and gone in my life

and helped me to become the person I am today -

for better or worse!

 

Grateful for all the things that are going right in my world -

and there are many.

 

Grateful as always for the sun and moon and stars,

for blue skies and rain and trees and flowers.

 

We are all made of the same star stuff -

the same stuff.

 

All one.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

 

 

Sunrise, St Augustine Beach

©LaineQuinn2021

Everything...

 

 

Everything has to do with loving

and not loving.

                                                       

                                                  Rumi

 

 

 

 

From Laine's Blog, November 2018.

©LaineQuinn 2021