Sea oats in the breeze
Sun getting ready to set
One more wave - no two!
Vilano Beach, July 2022
©2022 LaineQuinn
The beauty around us
No matter where you are
There is beauty around you!
The Inlet St. Augustine
©LaineQuinn 2022
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
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
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
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!
What's up is down!
And what's down is up!
It stretches the mind...
Reflections
©LaineQuinn2022
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
It is a lie - any talk of God
that does not
comfort
you.
Poem by Meister Eckhart, 13th century mystic, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
The sun sets on another day
another week
another year.
©2021 Laine Quinn
Inlet, Vilano Beach
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
How's it going?
Personally - within?
Take a moment to remember
that you are here now
with your very own life.
Your very own precious life.
How's it going?
Within?
Breathe.
©Laine Quinn2021
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!
Can you be stressed and joyful at the same time?
Worried and happy at the same time?
Yes
and
Yes!
It takes some living and loving and forgiving
to arrive at a time in your life
when your emotions balance
without effort.
Joy and happiness can rise to the top like bubbles in water.
Stress is still stress and worry is still worried,
but they're paired with your innate joy
and they don't eat away your minutes and hours-
your days and nights.
The edges are smoothed and softened.
You can still find gladness in the little things
and laugh at your clumsy self.
©Laine Quinn 2021, Vilano Beach July 2021.
America is a mess...
But the good news is this:
Americans are good people
and love is rising above hate
and kindness is spreading in every neighborhood.
There is more that connects us than divides us
and optimism is our only choice and our hope
for the future of
the American Dream of Self Governance.
Happy Independence Day!
Hello, loyal followers!
Laine's blog is in its 10th year!
(I can't believe it!)
Thank you for being part of my dreams and meanderings!
The subscription service that I have been using, Feedburner
will no longer be available after June.
I have moved my list to Mail Chimp and hope that I did it correctly!
You might get two copies of this if it is working,
so please be patient with me while I iron out the wrinkles.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there for Laine's Blog!
With love and best wishes for everyone!
Laine
Spotting a Baby bird outside my window, I watched to see if she was in distress...
And here comes her mom or dad!
A few seconds later, after mom left,
one of her siblings flew in and knocked her off the railing!
They tussled on the ground until the intruder took off and she flew back up to the rail
waiting for the next feeding!
So, she could fly!
And her parents were feeding more than one babe!
And all of this outside my window!
Lucky me!
©Laine Quinn 2021 Baby Tufted Tit Mouse and parent!
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!
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.
Grounded in springtime -
planting and potting and cleaning!
And the Cicadas are due any minute now!
We called them the 17 year Locusts.
Magicicada.
Living as nymphs, 8 feet below the surface,
feeding on tree root sap in underground bunkers,
(and I thought they were sleeping!),
17 years later,
they emerge through tunnels that they create,
to shed their skins
and reveal the insect that we are familiar with,
the Cicada.
The males sing their hearts out
waiting for a reply from a willing female.
5 weeks later they are gone - deceased- it's over -
except for the thousands of eggs left behind in the bark of their preferred trees.
These eggs become larvae that fall to the ground
and become the hardy nymphs that live quietly underground
for a very long time!
Yes, the "song" can be annoying, deafening even,
but it is truly fascinating to ponder such a life
and to witness its Grand Finale!
Grounded indeed!
©2021 Laine Quinn
Photo of a bog on a farm nearby!
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
I am a thing
among other things.
There was a little book
in the "Tiny Library"
next to the little playground
which is next to the community garden
in my neighborhood.
My young friend wanted to play on his own
for a little bit,
so I picked up the little book,
"The Alphabet of Grace"
to peruse
and sat on the bench
to read.
I forced myself to remember that line,
or close to it
because it seemed to equalize everything!
Me, the swing set, the sliding board,
the moon and the stars.
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!
Make good trouble!
When I went back to borrow the book, it was gone!
But I found the author on line, Frederick Buechner.
Photo of lizard on a thing, at the edge of the garden,
© 2021 Laine Quinn