Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Remember?

 

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.

 

 

Moonlight...

 

Every day brings us closer to moonlight

But

Where is she now?

                                                               

 

(Crescent moon coming soon to your neighborhood sky!)

 

 

 

 

In Honor of National Poetry Month, an original!

©Laine Quinn

Photos taken in 2013, the moon and Venus just after sunset.

 

 

                                                                         

A Change in Perspective...

 

 

Simple.

A little planet in a grand and glorious galaxy

in an unimaginable universe.

 

Our little rock is spinning on its axis,

rotating around our star, the sun,

which is rotating in the galaxy,

which is traveling in the universe,

with other galaxies

and planets and stars.

 

We've learned so much in the last 50 years!

What will we find in the next 50 years?

 

Time will tell!

 

 

 

 

We Are All Humans...

 

We Are all Humans -

wonderfully diverse -

who emerged from the same continent.

 

The differences,

Asian, Indian, Eskimo, Indigenous,

so called Whites, Blacks -

are just labels - tags - meaningless.

 

All Human life on the planet emerged from the continent

now called

Africa.

 

 

People dispersed to all parts of the globe

over thousands and thousands and thousands of years,

adjusting to the different environments in diverse ways.

 

All of the continents on earth are connected

deep in the earth.

All peoples on earth are connected

deep in their hearts.

 

In a sense,

we are all African!

But truly,

All part of one Human family.

 

 

 

Photo Credit: NASA 1,000,000 miles from earth, Africa and Europe.

 

 

Social Distancing...

 

 

Social distancing not required...

 

 

 

 

Cat (DJ) and Armadillo, the Moon and Venus, Two Butterflies, Cat (Lucy) kisses Gator, Two Web-footed friends, Five Turtles! All Safe.

A Mistake...

 

When you have peaceful, cooperative cities

that are unfortified:

no walls or fortresses -

that have not developed weapons of death:

there was no need for those things,

as their neighbors were friendly -

and violent warring tribes from the surrounding arid lands

invade and destroy everything in their path,

installing their vengeful, jealous gods to displace the nurturing goddess -

things change.

 

And they change dramatically and violently and relatively quickly.

1,000 or 2,000 years to undo 30,000 years

of human development.

 

In her book, The Chalice and the Blade,

Eisler makes the case that patriarchy and its elevation

of war and fear and power over others

is an anomaly,

a blip on the evolutionary screen.

 

The Pale Blue Dot

View from Voyager, Earth as seen from deep space. NASA

 

It's a detour off the path of human development.

 

A mistake that needs correction.

That must be corrected.

 

 

 

Photo of the Earth from deep space. APOD "ThePaleBlueDot"

Astronomy Picture of the Day, February 14th 2020.

 

 

Let Them Go to Mars...

 

 

The American Experiment has never lived up to its promise

of self-government and Liberty and Justice for All.

From the start it was non-inclusive, predatory and rigged

in favor of the "ruling class", the so called "people".

But this doesn't mean that a course correction wouldn't change things for the better.

 

America, (which has never been great, truth be told) can be good.

The promise is there and the vision is there and the American People

are good people.

Corporations are not people and have not been good for the people for some time.

Greed is not pretty, not for Americans or for the planet.

 

Have we reached the pinnacle of American Greed?

Let them go to Mars.

Let's stay here and take care of our own beautiful ailing planet.

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the political post, it has been brewing for awhile.

©2019 Laine Quinn Flag at the Oldest Wooden School House in St. Augustine Florida.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Tree Of Life...

 

Tree of Life,

 

re-imagined at Disney Park, Animal Kingdom.

Look closely at the life carved into this man-made tree.

 

Real trees have even more mysteries and secrets,

kept over the centuries and passed down the generations.

 

 

 

 

 

©Laine Quinn 2019, Disney's Pandora Tree of Life. Possibly Ostrich in the foreground!

Disney, Animal Kingdom...

 

Disney = long lines and sore feet and exhaustion!

BUT...

the Avatar ride in Pandora was worth it all!

You are gliding on a Banshee through the Fantastic Pandora landscape,

even though you never leave your seat,

you duck and lean to avoid hitting branches and arches and going into the ocean!

 

WILD!

 

A giant plant, along the 3 hour walk to the ride!

Very well thought out exhibit!

 

 

© Laine Quinn 2019.

Cat Meets Armadillo

 

A possum at the door last night reminded me of this one...

 

 

 

 No worries!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from Laine's Blog October, 2011.

Are You Safe?

 

There are some who say that we are safer now

than at any other time in Human History.

And there are some who say that we are never ever safe.

 

There are some who work tirelessly for peace.

And there are some who work tirelessly for war.

 

There are those who worship power and money over and above

human relationships.

And there are some who would lay down their lives

for a stranger.

 

How will the earth's people move away from tribal ways?

The us and them ways?

The winner and loser ways?

 

The "new" barbarians,

the ones in expensive suits and gowns who go around in limousines and oversized yachts,

control the information.

But the truth that is hiding beneath the headlines is this:

 

LOVE IS MORE PERVASIVE ON THE PLANET THAN FEAR AND HATE AND GREED!

LOVE.

 

Love will survive the onslaught of the new barbarians

who would rape and pillage everything in sight.

Love is winning.

The lovers outnumber the haters on a grand scale!

 

In time we will regain balance,

and it will be women and men together leading the charge.

 

Are you safe?

 

 

I saw this on the beach the other day.

I once thought that they were deadly,

but the reality is they only have a terrible sting.

 

Kind of like the trouble the earth is in today,

terribly stunned,

but willing and able to survive!

 

 

 

 

 

The Portuguese Man of War. St. Augustine Beach.

 

 

Celestial Pals...

 

 

The moon resting near Venus and Mars, early Saturday morning.

(Mars really is red!)

 

When you look higher,

there is Jupiter!

 

 

The sun is about to rise and outshine these pals as they make their way across the sky.

 

A beautiful sight.

 

 

 

 

 

The moon and Venus close by with Mars and Jupiter, looking East on the morning of November 7th, 2015.

Venus and Mars are alright tonight... from a Paul McCartney song.