The beauty around us
No matter where you are
There is beauty around you!
The Inlet St. Augustine
©LaineQuinn 2022
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
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
It is a lie - any talk of God
that does not
comfort
you.
Poem by Meister Eckhart, 13th century mystic, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
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
Does the Egret apologize to the fish?
Is the fish feeling like a victim, getting angry and huffy?
These two marvelous creatures are
living and dying on the same page.
No apologies.
No blame.
When we seek honestly that which nourishes us,
we thrive.
Reprinted from Laine's Blog, October, 2011
©LaineQuinn 2011
What I know - what I know is -
Love will find a way.
Conflict in your life?
Say this -
Love will find a way.
Anxious?
Say this in your heart and mind -
Love will find a way.
It does.
It will.
Somehow it opens your heart and reminds you of the love there.
There is a song that goes like the first line of this post but I can't find it!
But there are 2 others with the title of "Love Will Find a Way" by Pablo Cruise and Lionel Ritchie.
In any event, Love will find a way!
©Laine Quinn 2021 Photo of sunrise with steady waves, one after the other, 09/08/2021
Between cloudy nights
and thunderstorm days,
the moon only showed her face two times
for an entire month.
But the clouds - the clouds were wonderful!
building each day in the willing sky,
between sun and rain and rainbows!
©LaineQuinn 2021 Stormy July!
Sometimes when I am standing at the water's edge,
looking out over the waves,
I think that I should be having some profound thought
or insight into my life or life in general.
But, I never do.
Sometimes I am worried about something.
Sometimes I am not worried!
Standing there or walking,
loving the wind on my face and the waves bumping into each other
and the low ceiling of clouds moving overhead -
it is enough -
more than enough.
Just being there!
Yes,
it is plenty!
©LaineQuinn 2020
Waves at Vilano Beach, Egrets and Pelicans and Gulls in the distance and Dolphins and fish swimming below!
What I have been trying not to say out loud,
is that there are blessings or gifts hidden in tragedies,
and these gifts may not be obvious for some time to come,
but they are there.
If we can make a commitment not to let the anger and helplessness
allow us to disconnect,
and instead turn to our friends and families,
and really see them in that deep way that keeps love alive,
then that compassion spreads to our neighbors, and the person behind the counter,
and we become part of the force that moves us away from the madness,
and towards creating a loving and compassionate world.
Be gentle with each other and kind and open.
Reprinted from Laine's Blog, 4/2013 and 6/2016
St. Augustine Harbor
looking east, with the sun low in the west
lighting up the sky,
after an afternoon storm.
(True Colors!)
©LaineQuinn 2015 St. Augustine, Florida
It's that time of year -
in a very odd year _
when emotions are raw and memories haunt you.
Riding waves of feelings,
not knowing where they come from,
or why,
or how long,
you hang on.
Storms come and they go,
and you hang on.
You hang on.
And they go.
Life is still life -
imperfectly perfect.
Stay safe,
and patient
and perfect.
©2020 Laine Quinn
Driving over the bridge to the beach the other night
the sky was strikingly -
striped!
From West to East -
stripes!
A pending cold front,
I was informed
and sure enough -
that night was our first cold one - dipping into the 30's.
Quite a beautiful, remarkable sight!
Vilano Beach, St. Augustine, ©2020 LaineQuinn
Out of nowhere
nature paints a rainbow
coming out of the horizon
and it's just sitting there!
I see a guy
coming along in the distance,
too far to shout out
but somehow I get his attention
and point to the rainbow
and he
excitedly
gives me a thumbs up!
He saw it too!
And
then the little rainbow
just
disappeared!
Vilano Beach, 11/20/2020
©2020 LaineQuinn
Everyday - at least once a day -
Picture your perfect world.
At least once, for a few minutes or more!
Everyday.
Vilano Beach Reflection, © 2020 Laine Quinn
Are you registered to vote?
Are you sure?
In some areas of the country,
if you have not participated in the last one or two election cycles,
you are purged from the voter rolls.
Period.
Do not wait for election day to discover that you are the victim of a voter purge.
Check ahead of time, like today.
In my county,
you must be registered to vote at least 30 days before an election
in order to participate in that election.
So, double check, even if you are sure that you are registered to vote.
Double check!
Call or visit online your Supervisor of Elections
and be sure that you can participate
in the most important presidential election
of your lifetime - so far!
Brought to by Laine, in the historic year of 2020.
Never met a stranger
When I heard that sentiment many years ago,
I spent several days, weeks, months scratching my head.
What on earth did it mean?
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks - of course -
none of us are strangers to one another.
As Joni Mitchell put it so many years ago,
"I see something of myself in everyone..."
All of our vulnerabilities and insecurities,
all of our hubris and self righteousness -
we all share these things.
Anxiety, arrogance, shame, hate, joy, love, ecstasy, balance -
Who hasn't experienced these emotions and lived to see another day?
Our humanity is what connects us.
Perfectly imperfect.
Some of us love dogs, others cats.
Some people love the ocean
and for others it's the mountains and valleys.
I like blue!
What's your favorite color?
(I won't hate you for it!)
Family at the beach ©2020 Laine Quinn
Let's be patient with one another.
We are all in this for the long haul
and depend on each other to remain safe and healthy.
Love and kindness are our best tools to see this through.
Love and kindness and patience.
Deep breath.
Sunrise, Saint Augustine Beach, Yesterday!
©2020 Laine Quinn
"Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this
planet with goodness. Lean toward the whispers of your own
heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates.
Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge.
Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that
the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation
wisely, but when it is your time don't be afraid to stand up, speak up, and
speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to
peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see,
then the poetry of the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to
manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is
finally at peace with itself."
John Lewis
From his book, Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change,
quoted in a Beautiful tribute to John Lewis in Brain Pickings.
Surely he walks with the angels!
©2020 Laine Quinn - Sunrise, St. Augustine Beach
A walk on the beach.
Blue sky
Ocean
Sand
Nature stands by.
Peaceful
Beautiful
Sometimes thundering
And what are the humans doing?
Try to be nice!
It is the best way.
©2020 Laine Quinn, St. Augustine Beach, June.
Full Twist
Alternate leg stretch
©2020, Laine Quinn Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, St. Augustine Beach
Change is in the air.
Compassion and righteous anger are walking the streets of America with Lady Justice.
There will be no turning back these pages of history ourstory -
no matter what the impeached president says or does.
Change is in the air.
This isn't 2 dozen people with automatic weapons
standing on the capitol steps
protesting the lock down because of covid-19.
This is thousands and thousands of peaceful Americans
supporting one another and walking together
to protest the racial inequality that permeates our society.
Protesting militant police who murder innocent people for sport.
Change is in the air
and it's not going away.
Police are on notice.
States Attorneys are on notice.
We are watching now.
And we are many.
Change is in the air.
Stay vigilant.
Stay safe.
Stay together.
In 1953, Rachel Carson penned this...
"It is one of the ironies of our time that,
while concentrating on the defense of our country against enemies from without,
we should be so heedless of those who would destroy it from within."
Amen.
©Laine Quinn 2020
It's Sunday,
take the day off!
With all of the bad news and incompetence of our government,
and missing being close to our loved ones -
our hearts get heavy.
But that's because of the love in our hearts.
Love and compassion and empathy and sorrow.
So, take a break.
Forget the bad news and focus on the love -
the love inside your Big Heart.
Love is everywhere evident -
even in this pandemic.
Look inside,
past the confusion and pain,
to the love.
That love - your love, my love,
will see us through to the other side of this.
Trust that love.
Feel it.
St. Augustine Beach, Sunrise
©2018 Laine Quinn
It's been over a month since I've been to the beach.
Emotions seem to be wrapped up in worry and uncertainty,
and I don't miss it in the usual way.
But I do miss it!
©Laine Quinn 2019 St. Augustine Beach, sunrise.
"The shore means many things to many people. Of its varied moods
the one usually considered typical is not so at all.
The true spirit does not reside in the gentle surf that laps
a sun drenched bathing beach on a summer day.
Instead, it is on a lonely shore at dawn or twilight,
or in storm or midnight darkness that we sense a mysterious something
that we recognize as the the reality of the sea.
For the ocean has nothing to do with humanity.
It is supremely unaware of man..."
And the ocean was there at the beginnings of life on earth,
spawning all that we know and recognize as our world,
over many many millions of years.
"Everything in that scene caused me to feel apart,
remembering that the relation of birds to the sea
is rooted in millions of years,
that man came but yesterday."
Rachel Carson, quoted from the book LOST WOODS The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson, edited by Linda Lear.
Photos Credit, © Laine Quinn White Crest, Wellfleet Mass.
and Dark Sky, Herring Cove, Provincetown Mass.
and Black Skimmers, Vilano Beach, St. Augustine Fl.
(Sea gull wondering if it is safe to join the others...)
*"If social distancing needs to be extended long term,
scientists recommend forming an inner circle of uninfected friends and family
that you can rely on
to maintain social bonds..."
Some others call this a pod -
forming a pod of trusted friends and family.
But when can we do that?
When is it safe -
when the very best thing we can do is to isolate?
Listen to your heart...
when it feels okay,
then wait another week!
If it still feels okay,
take small steps.
Go slowly.
Be sure.
Trust your feelings.
*Quoted from a CNN article by Ryan Prior.
© 2020 Laine Quinn St. Augustine inlet with the Schooner, Freedom and a gaggle of gulls. Or should I say a pod?
It might happen to you,
like it did to me -
when you're singing along to an old sad song
trying to hold it together -
that's when it might hit you -
or in the middle of nowhere
talking to your friend, husband or wife -
it might boil over the top
and then you're crying-
trying not to cry
because you are safe -
you are home.
But you cry because others aren't safe
or home -
but are in harm's way -
in the path of an invisible tsunami.
We must be safe.
We must take care of each other even from a distance.
And we must find ways to release the pressure valve from time to time
and cry if we can.
We are all in this together.
For the long haul.
We must be patient.
We must take good care.
We must.
We must.
For all of the people on the front lines risking it all to take care of us.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Laine
Waves on the Horizon, © Laine Quinn2019
In her autobiography, Dust Tracks On A Road,
Zora Neale Hurston, with no disrespect to organized Religion,
states that-
"It is simply not for me...
The springing of the yellow line of morning out of the misty deep of dawn,
is glory enough for me."
Amen!
Photo, Crescent Beach, © Laine Quinn 2018, sunrise.
Ecola
I walked by the sea-creek side.
The wind laughed, the gulls cried.
Sweet water lapped on the salt sand
between the deep sea and the deep land.
Ursula K. LeGuin
Years ago, Joseph Campbell told us that the poets would save us.
I begin to understand.
From Ursula K LeGuin's book of poems, "Late in the Day."
Joseph Campbell, in his series, "The Power of Myth."
Photo of St. Augustine Beach, ©2020LaineQuinn
There is an interview with the Four Women of "The Squad" on Democracy Now.
After reading the transcript of these four diverse women,
at a time when I was getting very disheartened about the state of the country and the world,
I found HOPE!
They are, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York,
Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts,
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan
and
Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
These women are on the front lines and they are passionate and positive
and Hopeful!
So, whatever you do, don't lose Hope.
Hope will get us through.
Love and compassion
and passion for the things we love -
will get us through.
©2020 Laine Quinn, Wild Waves
Whenever I see a line of pelicans coming along the beach, over the waves,
their wingtips just grazing the water, I get a little bit jealous of how simple
their life appears to be.
It seems that the creatures of this world are better at meeting their daily needs
than the oh so intelligent higher mammals who actually destroy or poison
the very things that support them.
From now on, my blog is dedicated to our home planet,
the lifeboat that we - all of us - are sailing on through space.
I am joining the chorus of concerned citizens of Mother Earth
to do my small part to alleviate the pressure of too many years
of human recklessness that has threatened our time here.
My first step is appreciation, and gratitude for the beautiful world we still live in.
The wonderful old oak trees in my neighborhood, and just last week, the hungry caterpillar on the butterfly weed,
and of course the beaches and all the life bursting there, the birds and fishes and dolphins.
A heartfelt appreciation and gratitude.
Bowing in humility before the multiplicity of life, here on planet Earth.
Brown Pelicans doing what they do as they surf along the waves at St. Augustine Beach.
©LaineQuinn 2020