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Archive for April, 2013

Vermillion Cliffs

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , on April 10, 2013| 12 Comments »

The late afternoon sun bathed the Vermillion Cliffs in a glow that set off their redness. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The late afternoon sun bathed the Vermillion Cliffs in a glow that set off their redness. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: Wow! What a ride.” — Hunter Thompson

Colorful Detour

            My canine traveling companion, Pepper, and I took off in my RV, Gypsy Lee, this past week for a 1,700-mile roundtrip from Tucson to Ogden, Utah. It’s the first road trip we’ve taken since I kind of put roots down in the Arizona desert city in January– and then promptly broke my ankle.

Navajo Bridge with the mighty Colorado below -- but not looking so mighty at the moment. But having been eaten by Granite Rapid downstream, I do know it is mighty. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Navajo Bridge with the mighty Colorado below — but not looking so mighty at the moment. But having been eaten by Granite Rapid downstream, I do know it is mighty. — Photo by Pat Bean

Being on the road again feels wonderful. Even Gypsy Lee, who has over 135,000 miles on her, seemed happy to be traveling again.

The plan for one day of travel was to spend the night in Page, Arizona. That plan went awry when I came upon a road block at Highway 89’s junction with Highway 89A. I had driven Highway 89 into Page many times and I suspected a landslide had occurred somewhere along the scenic route.

Later research showed my suspicions exactly right. It had happened in February, but I hadn’t heard the news.

The detour didn’t really add miles to my drive, but did mean that I would spend the night in Kanab, Utah, instead of Page. What made me a little grumpy is that it meant I was traveling Highway 89A, which goes over the high Navajo Bridge, beneath which flows the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, near Lee’s Ferry.

And this is why I had to detour. -- Arizona Highway Photo

And this is why I had to detour. — Arizona Highway Photo

It was not an unfamiliar route, and even one that I had planned to take on my return trip home so I could double my landscape viewing. Twice, in my younger more fit days, I had floated beneath this bridge at the start of a 225-mile, wild, white-water raft ride through the Grand Canyon.

What I was grumpy about was that I was hitting this stretch of road late in the afternoon and wouldn’t have much time to linger long along the way to gaze in awe at the awesome landscape. I don’t drive after dark.

I did, however, stop briefly at the bridge’s overlook for a view of the magnificent Vermillion Cliffs that lay to my north on the Arizona-Utah border. They were brilliantly bathed in the evening light showing why they had been named.

 

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Posted in African Safari, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , on April 7, 2013| 3 Comments »

 

A field of pansies. -- Photo by Pat Bean

A field of pansies. — Photo by Pat Bean

 

 

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” — Alice Walker

Pleasing colors -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pleasing colors — Photo by Pat Bean

Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow.  – red, yellow, brown, black and white.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Sometimes We Fly http://tinyurl.com/bts2nus This applies to humans as well. I loved the spirit behind this post.

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Morning Walk With Birds and Words

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2013| 7 Comments »

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Mourning dove — Photo by Pat Bean

 

If I had things my way, all birds would fly free.

Gambel's quail -- Photo by Pat Bean

Gambel’s quail — Photo by Pat Bean

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By Maya Angelou

“A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

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Gila woodpecker — Photo by Pat Bean

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.”

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John Muir and Margaret Mead

Posted in Books, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , on April 2, 2013| 3 Comments »

 “A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.” – I Eberhardt

What I Didn’t Know About Muir

Half Dome from Tioga Pass

Half Dome from Tioga Pass, a Yosemite landscape Muir spent years seeing. I only saw it for the first time two years ago. — Photo by Pat Bean

            I’ve long known about John Muir’s association with Yosemite and his role in creating the Sierra Club, but I knew nothing about the 40.000-mile journey he took when he was 73.

I discovered this when I came across Muir’s unpublished journals and correspondence that provide the contents for the book, “John Muir’s Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa,” that were collected and edited by Michael Branch.

Upon discovering the book, published in 2001, at my local library, I thought about Margaret Mead’s words that I had once read, and which as a writer have stayed with me through the years. She wrote that perhaps she wasn’t the world’s best anthropologist, but that she was best known because she always wrote down and published her research, beginning with her first book, “Coming of Age in Samoa,” published in 1928 to her 1972 autobiography “Blackberry Winter.”

It impressed upon me the value of keeping journals and writing things down when they were still fresh in the mind.

And a Samoan landscape that Margaret Mead saw but I never did. -- Wikipedia photo

And a Samoan landscape that Margaret Mead saw but I never did. — Wikipedia photo

Mead also had a lot of other things to say that have influenced me life. For example:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that every has.”

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique, just like everyone else.”

“It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.”

And then there are the words of John Muir, which closely express my feelings about Mother Nature:

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

            Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to reading about Muir’s last journey. I think he, Mead and me all identify closely with Eberthardt’s quote about being a nomad.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Long-tailed ducks on Lake Ontario http://tinyurl.com/bolxga5 Great photos

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