Pat Bean's blog

Archive for November, 2013

100 Things I’m Thankful For

Posted in Uncategorized on November 28, 2013| 10 Comments »

“As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so does my gratitude renew itself daily. The breaking of the sun over the horizon is my grateful heart dawning upon a blessed world.” — Terri Guillemets

I’m thankful that this old coot still has a zest for life and a curiosity about it as well. — Photo by Pat Bean

1. That I’m spending Thanksgiving this year with family, including my 2-year-old great-grandson.
2. Belly laughs
3. The Sonoran Desert, where I’ve lived now for almost a year.
4. My resent reunion with my scattered family in Texas, including four children and their spouses and children.
5. Pepper, my canine companion and lap full of joy.
6. Rich African  coffee heavily laced with cream
7. My small RV Gypsy Lee, who is still running and still my only transportation
8. Cool nights that let me snuggle beneath a soft quilt
9. That this old broad is still reasonably healthy and still able to take care of herself and even travel some.
10. Hearty  hugs from people who mean it
11. That my January broken foot is all healed.
12. My Tucson apartment’s third floor balconies that let me see sunrises in the morning and sunsets in the evenings.
13. My association with the awesome women of Story Circle Network
14. A good haircut
15. Scenic “short” hiking trails
16. Achievements  of my kids, grandkids and friends
17. My zest  for life
18. Friends who love playing cards and board games
19. Learning something new
20. The flash  of sun illuminating the tail feathers of an overhead red-tailed hawk
21. Waterfalls
22. That as an American woman I can go anywhere alone and that my vote count just as much as a man’s — and believing that perhaps one day all women can say the same
23. Ibuprofen to relieve aches and pains
24. Discovering a fantastic new author
25. Meet Ups, which have let me gain a community of writers and others who share my interests
26. The hummingbirds, gila woodpecker and verdins that visit my nectar feeder
27. Van Gogh paintings
28. Butterflies
29. My  computer and the Internet
30. That I’m a writer and can live moments in my life twice
31. Rainbows
32. Helen Reddy’s recording of “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar,” and John Denver’s recording of “Sunshine on my Shoulder Makes Me Happy.”
33. Tono Chul Park
34. Funky,  dangling earrings that belie my age
35. Bra-less  days
36. A stormy day spent with a good book
37. Good memories of my mother
38. Old  friends and new friends
39. A field of wildflowers or blooming cacti
40. My son-in-law’s chocolate chip cookies … hint, hint
41. The wind  blowing through my hair
42. My daily walks with Pepper
43. That I can afford medical insurance despite its big hit on my budget
44. A  wee-morning hours chatter with a long-time girlfriend over Jack Daniels  and Coke.
45. Children who worry about their mother, although their worrying annoys me.
46. The honking of geese as they fly overhead
47. Lake reflections
48. Family meals eaten around a table
49. My curiosity
50. Comfortable  shoes
51. The daily e-mails I share with a daughter-in-law
52. America’s national parks
53. Electricity
54. Pleasant surprises
55. People who care deeply about something
56. The wolf’s  return to Yellowstone
57. The  journey between destinations
58. A comfortable bed and a perfect pillow
59. WordPress for hosting this blog
60. Clean  white  sox
61. Water in  all its forms
62. Scented candles
63. A sky full of stars
64. Glasses that allow me to read
65. Wind blowing through my hair
66. Honest  politicians who truly care about the average American — surely there are some.
67. Bird watching with my bird-watching son
68. My dog-walking and writing jobs
69. For tears that let me know I can still care deeply about people and things.
70. Chocolate milk shakes made with real ice cream.
71. Nice and Easy, No. 99 – so I can forever be a blonde
72. Coyote  howls
73. Wrinkle-free clothing
74. Gentle dentists
75. My  independence
76. The  fragrant scent of a blooming gardenia bush, which always reminds me of my grandmother
77. The diversity I find in people watching
78. Large,  gnarly live oak trees
79. Audible  books
80. Maps
81. A good editor
82. Books with satisfying endings
83. The strong women of the past who fought so I could vote
84. A cup of  Earl Grey tea
85. The color  turquoise
86. Social Security
87. Antibiotics and vaccinations
88. Smiles
89. The gambled quail that frolic in the desert around my apartment
90. That gas is cheaper this year than last year
91. My Canon pocket, zoom camera
92. Air conditioners and heaters
93. Blank  journals to fill
94. The Catalina Mountains that have been my backyard for the past year.
95. A hearty  11 a.m. breakfast for lunch
96. The music  of a humpback whale
97. Stained  glass windows
98. Birds
99. My alone time
100. The family  computer nerds who get the bugs out of my laptop
101. Readers of my blog and other writings

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After the Rain

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Writing, tagged mornings, pat bean, rain on November 22, 2013| 3 Comments »

            “Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” Roger Miller

Morning comes to Tucson’s Catalina Mountains. — Photo by Pat Bean

Morning Walk with Pepper

            It was that magical moment before dawn when Pepper and I stepped out for this morning’s walk.

The landscape was all hues of gray, with a stillness over it that spoke louder than words, like the reflections on a lake bereft of a breeze,

I hadn’t heard it, but rain had fallen during the night. The uneven walk and grounds still held puddles that the desert’s dry air had not yet sucked away, or the land claimed for its own. Best of all there was the green smell of trees washed clean of dust, and an earthen spice that wafted up from the ground. No man-made perfume could ever smell as sweet.

The scents intrigued Pepper, whose furry black nose searched everywhere. I simply breathed in Mother Nature’s bounty and felt blessed, and my soul rejoiced that I was a writer. Although words could never fully capture and expel all that I felt during my short morning walk with a beloved canine companion, they were there in my head. And I knew I had to write them down and share.

And now that I’ve done just that, I’ll go have my morning cup of coffee.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Take an armchair walk in France http://tinyurl.com/mfjc37m While the architectural details of the palaces are magnificent, the walk through the trees is what drew me into this blog.

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The Pain of Living

Posted in Journeys, Writing, tagged books, death, joy, paint on November 20, 2013| 3 Comments »

            “Find a place inside where there is joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” – Joseph Campbell

Life is full of rainbows, and life is full of storms. The first without the second wouldn’t be as sweet. — Photo by Pat Bean

You Can’t Escape 

            I’ve been reading books for a female memoir writing contest. Several of them deal with surviving the pain of losing loved ones – and most of these books left me feeling a bit cynical. Everyone who lives to a ripe age loses loved ones. It’s part of life’s journey.

If we’re lucky we get to smell the flowers along the way. — Photo by Pat Bean

Sure it hurts. I’m still hurting from the loss of my mother, and I can only imagine the pain I will have to live through if one of my children dies before I do. That’s not the order in which life is supposed to be lived.

But why, I asked myself, did some of these authors act like their suffering was the only loss in the world? Get over it, I wanted to tell them.

But one of the memoirs involving death got to me. It was written by a woman whose activities included research involving hospice patients nearing death. She spent time with these people, recording their feelings and coming to care for them.

The researcher became especially close to one woman on the verge of death. This was a woman who had lived a hard street life, and admitted stealing, lying and prostituting herself to get the drugs she craved. “I cared for nobody else but myself,” she related.

And occasionally simply have time to sit and let the world go by. — Photo by Pat Bean

Before this woman died, the researcher herself found herself with cancer, and facing possible death.  The news upset the former drug addict so much that she bullied her hospice attendants into transporting her in a wheelchair to the researcher’s side in a hospital.

When the researcher apologized for causing the dying woman pain, the woman thanked her instead.

“For the first time, I know what it feels like to care about someone besides myself. It makes me feel alive in a way that I never did before,” she told the researcher

These words caused tears to flow from my eyes. I, too, in a moment of sorrow had once been grateful for pain. While it was a love that was rejected that had given me the pain, it was this same pain that let me know I still had the capacity to love.

In my book, that was treasured knowledge.

Bean’s Pat: Grateful for one more day http://tinyurl.com/kcnd7fa And hopeful for many more

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What is Home?

Posted in Dogs, Journeys, tagged dogs, home, pat bean, Travel, travel books on November 15, 2013| 12 Comments »

            “You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it’s all right.” — Maya Angelou

This view from my bedroom balcony is now part of what means home to me. — Photo by Pat Bean

Whatever You Want It To Be

            I spent nine wonderful years living and traveling this country full-time in Gypsy Lee, my 22-foot motor home. Recently I realized that was more years than I had ever lived in one specific dwelling in my life.         

Desert sunsets from my living room balcony now mean home to me.  — Photo by Pat Bean

All that time I was traveling, the road felt more like home than any of my former rooted dwellings. This wondering wanderer pondered why?

            The road, I finally decided, with its wondrous sights and beauty, was what I had longed for almost all my life. I dreamed about exploring this country, from coast to coast and border to border, ever since I can remember.

            The hundreds of travel books I read over the years — “Blue Highways” by William Least Heat Moon, “On the Road,” by Charles Kuralt, “Travels with Charley,” by John Steinbeck, “A Walk in the Woods,” by Bill Bryson, “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey, and many, many more – fueled those dreams.

            Then finally, at 65 years of age, I made the dream come true. I figured I had about five years before age would catch up with me, and I would have to stop living atop wheels, but I almost doubled that expectation.  

And Pepper is part of my home now. I’m a very blessed and a very thankful person. — Photo by Pat Bean

          This year I exchanged the road for a Tucson, Arizona, third-floor apartment in the Catalina Mountain foothills. Although I find it hard to believe, it now feels like home. Of course this wondering wanderer pondered why?

            In doing so, I listed what home meant to this old-broad wandering wonderer these days. My answers included: A place with a large bathtub so that I could soak in a hot tub whenever I wanted. This, I should tell you, is the only think I missed after paring down for my RV lifestyle and the road..

            Home also means a place where I can spend a whole day in my pajamas – if I wanted and did not have my dog, Pepper, to walk, but then Pepper, herself, is home.

             Home is a place with lots of books, even if one has a Kindle. Home is my desk and computer, where I can write to my heart’s content.  Home is a place where I can keep in touch with loved ones, and occasionally travel to visit them. Home is a balcony with a view of nature and birds and mountains. Home is a place to bring friends.

            What I now also know is that home is more inside of one than outside of one, and that it can be whatever you want it to be, and make it to be.       

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

     Bean’s Pat: The Road Not Taken http://tinyurl.com/l37f994 Something to think about.

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A Sunny Few Hours for Birding

Posted in Birds, Favorite Hikes, Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged alligators, birdwatching, pat bean, San Bernard, Texas wildlife refuges on November 13, 2013| 9 Comments »

“Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?” Rose Kennedy

This alligator was shot from the viewing platform in Wolfweed Wetlands and was more than a football field away. — Photo by PatBean

And a Hissing Alligator

It was a busy day for my son, who had chores, errands and Community Theater rehearsal – He’s playing Marley in an upcoming production of “A Christmas Carol.” But he chose to play hooky from them for a couple of hours on the last day of my visit with his Texas Gulf Coast family.

The magical path leading into Bpbcat Woods at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. — Photo by Pat Bean

We two passionate birders stuck out of the house early to continue our birding adventures, which had been rudely interrupted the day before by a heavily weeping storm. This day, which shone bright and clear with bird song echoing from the trees, the two of us headed to San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge.

The birds were out in good numbers this morning, we noted, as their musical tweets came through the open windows of our vehicle. On the drive we saw a field of cattle egrets, which like yesterday’s scissor-tailed flycatchers were late in migrating south for the winter.

A great blue heron stood as still as a statue near a pond that we passed, and a magnificent broad-winged hawk atop a tall pole stayed in place as my son stopped and backed up the car so we could get a better look at it through our binoculars.

The hissing alligator. — Photo by Pat Bean

I had only seen one other broad-winged hawk before so I was especially thrilled at this sighting. Our drive also turned up a flock of red-winged blackbirds and a few kestrels, which were just migrating back into the area for the winder.

At the refuge, we walked the refuge’s Bobcat Woods boardwalk, where we saw cardinals, ruby-crowned kinglets, eastern phoebes, red-bellied woodpeckers and yellow-bellied sapsuckers.

The plants, tree leaves and moss were thick along the boardwalk, letting us hear more than we saw. I surprised myself, however, that by sound I identified an orange-crowned warbler, whose sweet, single note call is so different from that of the single call of a yellow-rumped warbler.

Also identified by sound was a red-shouldered hawk, whose high-pitched keah, keah  screeches cannot be mistaken for anything else. We both spotted, at the same time, a cute belted-kingfisher flying low above a small stream. We both pointed and uttered the word “Look” at the same time, then we simply grinned at each other.

It was also a day for butterflies. You just never know what beauty will turn up in just a couple of stolen hours. — Photo by Pa Bean

It was when we had left the boardwalk, headed toward the viewing platform of the Wolfweed Wetlands that we were startled by a strange sound. I at first thought it might be a sudden gust of wind that had stirred the foliage.

Lewis, walking toward the sound to investigate, suddenly jumped back. It’s an alligator and it’s hissing at us. It certainly was, I saw, as I stepped closer to the small pond so I could take its picture. It wasn’t a big alligator; still we didn’t long in the area.

“I’ve never before been hissed at by an alligator,” Lewis said.

A little bit later, in another area of the refuge, Lewis was looking for rails in a reed-filled pond when he heard something popping into the water. He thought at first it was turtles, but on closer examination saw that it was baby alligators.

He left that area pretty quickly, perhaps because from the viewing platform that had looked out over a huge wetlands area we had spotted a second alligator – and it wasn’t small at all.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Jamaica Bay Shorebirds http://tinyurl.com/l83rlso A great birding photo blog

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A Stormy Birding Adventure

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, tagged birding in the rain, black-bllied whistlers, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, scissor-tailed flycatchers on November 8, 2013| 6 Comments »

            “Loving Life is easy when you’re in love with it.” – Author unknown

Scissortails and a Whistler in the Rain

A scissor-tailed flycatcher sitting in the rain at Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge. — Photo by Pat Bean

My son Lewis caught his birding addiction from me. I make no apologies. The shared craziness has given the two of us many hours of delightful magic and wonder.

So when I recently visited him and his family for a few days at his Texas Gulf Coast home in Lake Jackson, we decided to ignore the stormy weather forecast and go look for birds. . Sure, it was drizzling, but that could stop at any time. And besides, it would be our only chance to spend a day birding before I would be moving on to visit other Texas family, which includes two other kids and 10 grandchildren scattered far and wide across the Lone Star State.

We decided to go to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, which is located only eight miles away from my son’s home. It holds memories of Lewis’ first bird outing with me, and the moment he identified a tropical cormorant — which was the exact moment he was hooked on birding.  We laughingly relived that moment on our way to the refuge.

This is where Lewis and I were standing when the temperature dropped and the sky opened wide. — Photo by Pat Bean

We were standing on a boardwalk near the entrance to the refuge – ignoring a gentle rain while watching a chummy trio that included a dowitcher and two yellowlegs foraging in a pond – when a stiff breeze dropped the temperature several degrees.

In minutes we were standing in a deluge, but fortunately were standing under a roofed portion of the boardwalk. We waited, and waited, but it was soon evident that the rain wasn’t going to stop and we should head back to the car. The umbrella we shared did little to keep us dry, such was the fury of the storm.

I expected Lewis to turn toward the exit once we were in the car, but he headed deeper into the refuge.

“We can do a little car birding. Maybe we’ll spot some ducks,” he said. I laughed, knowing this is exactly what I would have done if I had been by myself. I have mentioned before, haven’t I, that passionate birders are a bit crazy.

“I’m sure we’ll have the place to ourselves,” I answered, as Lewis turned on the car defroster to keep the windows from fogging up.

I didn’t get a picture this day of the black-bellied whistler, but here’s a shot I took of four of them at Texas’ Brazos Bend State Park a while back. — Photo by Pat Bean

We ended the soggy day with the car splashing through puddles so deep I was surprised the vehicle didn’t stall. What a great adventure. We even spotted 24 bird species on our outing. For the birders among you, I’ll enumerate: Forster’s tern, blue jay, killdeer, common and great-tailed grackles, laughing gull, European starling, black vulture, mourning dove, mockingbird, meadowlark, scissor-tailed flycatcher, white ibis, lesser yellowlegs, short-billed dowitcher, western sandpiper, willet, great egret, greater yellowlegs, snowy egret, bank swallow, savannah sparrow, black-bellied whistler and pied-billed grebe.

The scissor-tailed flycatchers and the lone black-bellied whistler were my top two favorite sightings. It was late for the scissor-tails to still be in the area, and along with a colorful pair of adults, there was also a tree full of less bright and shorter tailed juvenile scissor-tails.

The whistler stood in the middle of the refuge’s gravel road beneath the dripping sky, and didn’t budge until we were almost on top of it. Whistlers are a species that I love, especially when a flock of them fly overhead belting out a tune.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: The Iris and the Lily http://tinyurl.com/lnt5xz4 Back road landscape. If you are a fan of Mother Nature, you will love this blog.

 

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  “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters.” — Ursula K. Le Guin

  Pat Bean is a writer, avid birder, hiker and passionate nature observer with wanderlust in her soul. She spent nine years living and traveling in a small RV. She now lives in Tucson with Scamp, a rescue who was supposed to be a Schnauzer mix but turned out to be a Siberian Husky-Shih Tzu mix who is as stubborn as his owner, her granddaughter says. She was also a journalist for 37 years, and can be reached at patbean@msn.com

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