It's the birds' songs lately,
just before dawn (how do they know?)
that make me smile
and remind me of life's simplicity.
Then the ride over the river,
seeing the calm waters filling the marsh -
all of this soothing to the restless mind.
Deep breath in...
Deep breath out...
Ahhh, almost whole again.
Moultrie Creek, St. Augustine.
©LaineQuinn Reprinted from Laine's Blog, April 2014
Pansies planted now
Our azaleas blooming soon
Shamrocks everywhere!
Spring in North East Florida, pansies on the deck!
Haiku by Laine
©LaineQuinn 2024
Say yes to the unique individual self that you are
in this time and space.
You might have been here before
and you might come again,
but never as this particular person
in this particular time
and this particular space -
ever evolving
with our expanding universe.
Say yes!
To your place in the world of wonder!
Photo credit: Cosmos Eric Coles and Mel Helm 2015, from The Astronomy Picture of the Day, APOD.
PEACE
In our hearts and souls
and
In our lives
Peace
I remember days that felt like...
it was raining daisies.
From the song by John Sebastian, "She's a Lady".
Photo Gerbera Daisy!
(Not sure where I found this gem, but found it again and decided to share it for a laugh!)
Ahhh, to be a bee, and feel the soft inside of a flower-
breathe in the heady scent and take the sweet honey home to my queen!
Late blooming Cosmos, with Bee!
©LaineQuinn2023
Grateful as always for the wonders around me!
Mexican Sun Flowers, blooming now!
©2023LaineQuinn
At the risk of repeating myself,
we really do live in a beautiful world.
Nature persists.
In spite of what men do to each other and to the planet
to distract us,
Nature persists.
There is beauty and diversity and wonder
all around us.
And we,
who are a part of that wonder,
must insist on PEACE.
We must revel in the beauty and the possibility of Peace
in our hearts and in the world.
Sunrise, Vilano Beach September, 2023
2 different days!
This man was right next to our table at the very best restaurant in Tihany, Hungary.
He was fine, really.
Reprinted from LainesBlog October 2014
If life is "but a dream,"
then the paradox is
that the only way to realize the Dream,
is to
WAKE UP!
Spanish moss hanging from the trees in Blue Spring State Park, Florida.
Reprinted from my first year blogging, September, 2012
©LaineQuinn 2023
As I grow older and and can glimpse the end of my days,
there seems to be more time
or time is more expansive somehow.
Although the weeks zoom past with the years,
the present moment is huge!
You realize that you don't have to be in a hurry all the time.
That there is time. That that's all there is is time!
Time to smell the roses or listen to a friend - really listen;
time to tend the garden of your soul and spirit,
time for love.
Of course, this can happen at any age,
learning to take a step back,
take a beat
and pay close attention.
It's grand when we can master this even a little!
A rose is a rose!
©Laine Quinn 2023
Delicious sweet watermelon.
A gift from the gods.
(And a friend,
and a farmer in North Carolina!)
Thanks to all, and
to sun and rain and earth,
and to seeds that are so willing to grow.
Enjoying the fruits of summer.
Reposted from Laine's Blog, July 2014
©LaineQuinn2023
Last call, last chance
Last song, last dance
Sometimes you just don't know when that's gonna be
Hold me baby, give me a kiss
Like tonight is all there is
Cause there's a last time for everything
It's a Brad Paisley song that someone mentioned in a piece I found somewhere,
and it stuck with me.
Can we really cherish our days and nights like it's the last time?
Why not?
This is our life, our time, our blessings,
why not cherish them always?
"Last Time For Everything", by Brad Paisley.
Sunrise at Vilano Beach, St. Augustine.
Republished from LainesBlog, June 2017
©LaineQuinn2023
Is there a part of you that is the essence of who you are?
A part that is not corrupted by the culture that you grew up in
or the family that tortured you one way or the other?
I call it your core.
It is pure, whole, and located just below your heart, deep inside you.
It is incorruptible.
It's who you really are.
Getting there is a journey of acceptance,
a journey of non-resistance to loving yourself,
warts, craziness, lovliness and all.
This core is there all along.
It might take your whole life to uncover it,
but it's there guiding and protecting and loving you,
just as you are.
From the Archives, Laine's Blog, January 16th, 2012
©LaineQuinn2023
Friends, paddling along together through life's currents.
It's a calm evening and mild in between the storms and troubles.
There's peace and quiet and a kind of welcome ordinariness,
a rightness about things.
All's well.
Reprinted from LainesBlog May 2013
Two Pelicans in the quiet evening, St. Augustine
©Laine Quinn 2023
Friends, paddling along together through life's currents.
It's a calm evening and mild in between the storms and troubles.
There's peace and quiet and a kind of welcome ordinariness,
a rightness about things.
All's well.
Reprinted from LainesBlog May 2013
Two Pelicans in the quiet evening, St. Augustine
©Laine Quinn 2023
Hibiscus, the state flower of Hawaii was once commonly called good night at noon
because it blossoms for only a short time!
I like that, "good night at noon!"
Some days are like that.
From the book Garden Flower Folklore by Laura C. Martin
Blog post from Laine's Blog, May 2012, with permission!
©Laine Quinn 2023
You Don't Have to Choose Between Happiness and Being Informed
We are living in an amazingly beautiful world and when you focus on that more than on the bad news of the day,
you begin to see that as confused and crazy as our civilization is
the world is crazy beautiful!
Her beauty is so much vaster and more ancient than all the conceptual dis-information that has been heaped upon the human experience.
You start to find joy in real things.
The thundering majesty of nature.
That spark of authenticity in people's eyes. The crackle of magic at the water's edge.
Something as simple as a Morning Glory catching the light just right can renew your faith in the universe.
And you learn to live from there.
You settle into an understanding that while the suffering and abuses of our world are very real and of immense consequence,
the fact that there is anything at all is immensely more significant than any of our tiny human problems.
The fact that we get to live in these bodies and inhabit these brains and move around on this amazing planet
and perceive it and think thoughts about it is a much, much bigger deal than any of our difficulties.
So, go ahead and "make good trouble"
but don't forget to see and hear and wonder at all the beauty behind your eyes and in your own back yard!
This Blog is mostly from a posting by Caitlin Johnstone on May 12, 2023 and edited and used with her blanket permission to share her work.
I thank her for her bravery and honesty and generosity!
And her husband Tim Foley.
Photos of Morning Glory by Laine!
Delicate clinging vines - this is a time when clinging is good.
Good for the vine and the wall benefits too, aesthetically.
Is clinging ever good for us? We humans?
Holding on to that good or bad feeling - joy or anger?
Being in the moment is preferred, but if you have to cling,
cling to the things that become more beautiful with your clinging,
like a baby's smile or the best day ever in the water with the boogie board.
It makes you more beautiful to do that!
Clinging vine and wall found in Old St. Augustine, Florida.
(This post is from October 4th, 2011, the first week of Laine's Blog.)
©LaineQuinn 2023
There are paths taken,
and paths not taken.
It doesn't pay to have regrets.
Each life is so unique, yours, mine,
that it can only be lived by a you or a me.
There is no other way.
No one will ever get the whole story of your life except you.
It's how it is.
So, relax,
trust, and enjoy.
Reprinted from LainesBlog March 2013.
©LaineQuinn 2023
When we have long departed from this beautiful blue/green planet,
will we one day long for a glimpse of a new leaf in springtime,
missing the seasons and colors of Earth?
Perhaps that depends on the treasures that we find on the other side.
For now, a new green leaf in springtime is treasure enough.
Reprinted from LainesBlog, February, 2013
©LaineQuinn 2023
These two pelicans, flying and diving together in the shallow waters of Tampa Bay,
in time to their own music -
Reminded me of the two humpback whales dining together off Cape Cod,
and the pilot whales, cruising in perfect harmony.
Occasionally humans can, without a word, step together harmoniously to the shared music of life.
It's great fun when it happens,
and like the dance instructor said,
"Don't worry if you misstep, it's part of the fun!
Reprinted from LainesBlog February 2013.
©LaineQuinn2023
Sometimes it is impossible to remember
that we live on an improbable accidental planet
that might not have come into existence
without the perfect balance
of gravity and heat and cold and atmosphere and water
at the perfect distance from our star.
Spinning on its axis and orbiting around the sun
with the moon and our sister and brother planets,
and traveling with our Milky Way Galaxy
through space as our Universe still expands -
our little spaceship Earth is in perfect harmony
with the forces that made it all possible to begin with.
And here we are, the "children of flowers" on an evolutionary journey
65 million years in the making and still going strong.
So relax,
Earth is on auto pilot and won't fall from the sky anytime soon!
This is our time to revel in being alive in a world of wonder!
We do live in a beautiful world!
Photo: NASA, Earth Rise one of the first photographs of Earth from space.
Children of Flowers, borrowed from Maria Papova and her Marginalian.
Curiouser and curiouser!
Mural of Cat in Baltimore, Remington neighborhood. Sensa the cat on the rail and watching the fish!
©LaineQuinn2022
Here comes the sun!
Sincere, unapologetic gratitude
goes a long way towards
opening our hearts.
And there is lots to be grateful for,
lots!
Maple tree in Baltimore.
©LaineQuinn2022
Love is why we came here
To learn how to love
Everything
Everyone
All the time
It's a lot to learn
But worth the effort