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Things Aren’t Always What They Appear to Be

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 22, 2011| 3 Comments »

 

Great Egret

Snowy egret

 If you just see the photos of the two egrets on the right, you might think they were the same size, or even that the one on the left was the largest of the two. It’s all a matter of perspective — as you can see from the picture  below of the two of them together. 

                 — Photos by Pat Bean

                                                _____________

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” — Friedrich Nietsche

Travels With Maggie

One of my proudest accomplishments when I was a journalist was to get comments about a story I had written from people representing two sides of a polarized issue, each claiming my article had taken their opponent’s side. It was only then did I pat myself on the back for getting the story “mostly” right.

How each of us view life is colored by a unique perspective – our own. Truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

Eyewitnesses accounts of events can vary so greatly they sound like two different happenings. I see this frequently when I read accounts by two different reporters covering the same speech.

As you can see when you get the full picture, the snowy egret on the left is quite a bit smaller than the great egret on the right. These two were sharing a log at Estero Llano State Park in Texas' Rio Grande Valley.

For example, an environmental reporter might lead with a lumber industry spokesman’s quote: “A tree can produce enough oxygen to keep five or more people alive for a year.” But a business reporter’s lead would more likely be: “Logging is the life blood of hundreds of small communities; stop cutting trees and people will starve or turn to welfare.”

Both reporters, in the space they were allowed, quoted the speaker accurately. And the speaker was correctly quoted both times. The stories just came from different perspectives.

Travel has broadened my perspectives. I’m constantly reminded it’s a very complex world out there and that answers to problems do not come easily, nor without compromise.

Even through my camera lens – when indulging in my birdwatching passion – things aren’t always what they seem.

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A Gray Rainy Day and Mount Pisgah

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2011| 6 Comments »

 

Mount Pisgah -- Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

“And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” __ Gilbert K. Chesterton.

 Travels With Maggie

 It’s raining, a steady pitter-patter on the metal roof of the RV carport that’s currently sheltering my RV. The world from. my window is tinted with dripping grayness, broadcasting a message for Maggie and I to enjoy the warm coziness inside our tiny home on wheels this morning.

 This travel writer actually enjoys such lazy days. They give me time to make traveling plans, which currently include sheltering from winter in Arkansas for a few more weeks, visiting Texas’ Gulf Coast, squeezing in some bird watching in the state’s Rio Grande Valley, and finally attending a grandson’s wedding in Dallas.

Mount Pisgah from Black Balsam Knob -- Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

 These activities should keep me busy until mid-March when Maggie and I begin our real travels for the year. First on our agenda map is to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway between Smokey Mountain and Shenandoah national parks. It’s been a trip long in the planning, and one of the scheduled stops is the Mount Pisgah Campground.

 I mention this because in response to a recent question (Jan. 13 blog) about special places, one reader said hers was North Carolina’s “ Mt. Pisgah, up high where the Rhododendrons grow.”

I did a bit more detailed research about the peak, and learned there’s a “moderately difficult,” 1.6-mile path to the summit from Milepost 407 of the parkway. I think these old broad legs can handle that, especially since reviews of the trail report that the view from the top “is spectacular.”

 Thinking about that landscape almost has me urging March to get here sooner. But I don’t. I know it’s better to continue putting my own color to the magical grayness outside – and to continue listening to the wondrous composition of pinging rain and Maggie’s contented snores as she slumbers on the couch.

Life is too precious to miss one present moment of it.

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A Small Arkansas Town

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2011| 8 Comments »

A Camden, Arkansas, sunrise -- Photo by Pat Bean

“To read the papers and to listen to the news … one would think the country is in terrible trouble. You do not get that impression when you travel the back roads and the small towns …” — Charles Kuralt

 Travels With Maggie

I flushed a northern cardinal and a brown thrasher and startled a flock of Brewer’s blackbirds this morning when I first opened my RV door. This trio, along with mockingbirds, sparrows and crows, are regular visitors to my youngest daughter’s five-acre home in Camden, Arkansas.

 This small friendly town, where strangers you meet act as if you had been a dear friend for years, has no traffic jams (which I love) but also no Starbucks (which I occasionally miss). It’s greatest claims to fame are Grapette and Camark.

Gypsy Lee snug in her Arkansas temporary winter home -- Photo by Pat Bean

The first is the dark purple soda introduced in Camden in 1940. Although not ranking up there on the popularity meter with Coke or Pepsi, one can still buy and drink Grapette today. Remembering how I used to love its sweet grape flavor, I drink half of one every few years or so before overdosing on the sugary taste. These days I don’t even put sugar in my coffee or tea.

Camark was the name of a pottery plant that opened its doors in Camden in 1926. It was a thriving industry in the town for many years, but sold its last piece of pottery here in 1982. The pottery is considered quite collectible today, at least according to those who supposedly know such things.

 What I know is that Camden is a nice place to recharge my batteries for a few weeks in winter in anticipation of getting back on the road in the spring. Bonus features include a perfect sunrise view out my RV window, a visiting armadillo, an occasional ride on one of my daughter’s horses, being lulled to sleep by coyotes howling in the adjacent woods, and sightings of a pileated woodpecker that likes to sit in a tall tree at the end the long driveway.

 Oh yes! Let’s not forget the bonus of visiting with my daughter and her husband, and three young grandsons.

 Life is good in Camden, Arkansas.

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Angel’s Landing Tops My Special Places List

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , on January 13, 2011| 2 Comments »

The best view of Angel's Landing comes at the end of the hike where you look back up and say to yourself: I did it. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places … where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” — John Muir

 Travels With Maggie

It’s 6 a.m. in Dallas right now, and 27 degrees outside. I’m just waiting for it to warm up a bit before my dog, Maggie, and I get on the road to my youngest daughter’s home in Arkansas.

 The week here at my oldest daughter’s has been one of recharging batteries. Except for a dinner at On The Border one night and a trip to the vet because Maggie had an eye problem (better now), I haven’t left the house.

 My daily blogs while here have been recaps of earlier adventures in the area. So what, I worried when I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning is this travel writer going to post today. Well, my brain whispered to me, what about telling them about your special place? Perhaps readers will even return the favorite and tell you about their special place.

 While I don’t always listen to my chatty brain, I was delighted with this suggestion. My favorite spot in the whole universe is the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. I made the five-mile round-trip hike to stand up there for the first time in the 1960s – and have repeated it over 30 times since.

 Two of those miles zigzag up the mountain, while the last half mile is an actual scramble over rocks. While coming down is easier on the lungs, it’s harder on the legs. The climb used to be as easy as a walk in the park. These days, it’s a slow uphill/downhill battle.

Walter's Wiggles is a series of 21 hairpin turns up to Scout's Landing, where the half mile rock scramble to the top of Angel's Landing begins. I'm catching my breath halfway up the wiggles. -- Photo by Kim Perrin

That’s OK. It gives me plenty of time to take pictures of the Indian paintbrush growing out of rock cracks, to look for the peregrine falcons that nest near the top, and to listen to the cheery chickadees that flit along the rough trail.

My favorite trip to the top was made the year when friends who were going with me had to cancel. I went alone, but instead of camping, I stayed at the Thunderbird Lodge in nearby Mount Carmel Junction. The day I made the climb was windy, really windy.

Perhaps that’s why, for the one and only time, I had the mountain top to myself for a whole hour. I wrote in my journal while I listened to my all-knowing brain tell me what it always tells me when I stand on Top of Angel’s Landing:  You made it to the top. Now you can handle anything the coming year throws at you.

 And I always do.

So what’s your special place? I’d really like to know.

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Fascination Overrides Fear in Longhorn Caverns

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on January 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

  “I don’t know anyone who actually likes the dark .. I don’t care how much they say it doesn’t bother them. That’s why we used to huddle in caves and light fires when the sun went down.” — Paul Kane

The entrance to Longhorn Caverns and a journey down dimly lit tunnels. -- Photo by Larry Moore

Travels With Maggie

Just 70 miles away from Harker Heights, where my RV has been parked at my son’s house for almost a month, is Longhorn Caverns State Park. It’s perfect for a getaway day trip. I visited it during an earlier visit with my son, and was glad to have the company.

While I’m quite comfortable doing most things alone, I’m never comfortable in a cave. I have claustrophobia. I can’t even stand to be in a bird blind for more than a few moments before I make a dash for a sky ceiling. I need windows to the outdoor world, preferably with sunlight shinning through them.

And yet caves intrigue me. I seldom pass up an opportunity to go deep into the bowels of the earth where the air smells musky and feels primal. I attribute my ability to overcome my claustrophobia to my stubborn unwillingness to give into fear, a trait that serves me well in my solo travels.

But I’ve also discovered that as long as I keep moving through the dimly lit tunnels with my eyes seeking out the alien underworld formations created by water and time, I can put my claustrophobia temporarily on hold.

Comanches, Confederates and Texas legendary outlaw Sam Bass are said to have used Longhorn Caverns as their hideouts. I guess they weren’t afraid of the dark. As for me, I realized early on that I had to be law-abiding because I would go crazy if someone locked me up.

When my son and I exited the cavern, I drank in the hot Texas air with a feeling of relief.

“Come on,” I told my son. “Let’s go hike the nature trail.” And we did.

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Winter Bares Ink Lake State Park’s Soul

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , on January 5, 2011| 1 Comment »

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man (or woman) contemplates it, bearing with him (her) the image of a cathedral.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Devil's Waterhole at Inks Lake State Park. -- Photo by Benjamin Bruce

 

Travels With Maggie

When I sit for awhile, I check out nearby scenic landscapes and interesting places to visit. One of these within easy driving distance of Harker Heights, Texas, where my RV is now resting up, is Inks Lake State Park. It’s just 69 miles away, perfect for a day’s get-away when wanderlust gets the best of Maggie and me.

It’s a special place to me because I camped there with my children in the 1960s. The park was very undeveloped at that time, as were we as campers. Instead of the high-tech tents and camping equipment that eventually found their way among my possessions, we used blankets as sleeping bags and tin foil as cooking equipment.

The park today is quite amenable to campers, with electrical hookups for RV-ers like me and a few cabins for those who are not into tents and sleeping on the ground. It also has nearly eight miles of developed trails which I love to explore.

In spring, this Texas recreation spot park is filled with wildflowers, including Texas’ famous bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush, and twittering birds. In winter, I found it a peaceful place where the landscape’s pink, granite rock formations bared their soul.

It’s reasonable to say that both the park and I have come a long way in the passing years.

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Birds and Travel Go Together

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 

A northern mockingbird was my first bird of the new year. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 “Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” — Henry Van Dyke

Travels With Maggie

I’m a passionate birdwatcher, who keeps a list of birds I’ve seen. My life list now totals 696 bird species. It’s a respectable number for this late-blooming birder, but far from spectacular.

If you want to know more about the birding numbers game you should read “The Big Year” by Mark Obmascik. It’s a great read even if you aren’t a birder. It’s about three guys who spend a year chasing birds all across North America. At the whisper of a rare bird alert, they would fly thousands of miles on a minute’s notice.

Although I did once drive 400 miles to see one particular bird, these days I usually just bird where my travels take me. I check out bird festivals going on while I’m in the vicinity, and hook up with local Audubon chapters for birding field trips. This past year these efforts, including one day when I hired a guide to help me find the golden-cheeked warbler that I had been trying to find for three years, earned me 12 new life birds. And yes, the warbler was one of them.

I spotted this yellow-crowned night heron at the Sea Center in Lake Jackson, Texas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This year’s birding efforts, meanwhile, have begun slower than normal. I’ve been parked in my son’s driveway here in Harker Heights all this week and a cold front moving through the area seems to have kept the birds tucked away.

At least they’re not falling out of the sky dead, as red-winged blackbirds and starlings have been doing in Arkansas the past couple of days. That’s a scary thing because birds, like the canaries coal miners carried into the tunnels with them as their bad air detectors, are indicators of an environment’s health.

My first bird of this new year was a northern mockingbird, appropriate since it’s Texas’ state bird. It was a brilliant gray and white fellow with yellow eyes that landed on a fence about eight feet from my RV window. As I watched, it flashed its long tail in the air – then pooped.

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Too Bad the Queen Missed the Park

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on December 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The sign stopped me, the park enchanted me -- Photo by Pat Bean

 “Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process. The work of many decisions.” — Oscar Hammerstein

Travels With Maggie

Located on the Arkansas side of the Talimena Scenic Drive before it crosses into Oklahoma, Queen Wilhemina State Park was created in the late 1800s and named after Queen Wilhelmina in hopes the young ruler of the Netherlands would visit.

While the park was only 15 miles from where I had spent the previous night, it looked too inviting to pass by – or stay for just one night. That’s the beauty of having no deadlines to meet. The rain storm that blanked the area for the next few days, and which I wouldn’t have wanted to drive through, confirmed my instincts

Turtles, along with birds, deer and squirrels called Arkansas' Queen Wilhemina park home. -- Photo by Pat Bean

During one break in the storm, I walked up to the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge, where I devoured one of the tastiest cheeseburgers of my life while watching dark storm clouds build up for another burst. There’s something in me that loves a storm, and the sound of rain drumming on my RV roof is as enjoyable as a well-played concert. I was glad, however, that I made it back to the coziness of my RV, with my last bite of cheeseburger wrapped in a napkin for Maggie, before the downpour began anew.

Flowers grew all over the park -- Photo by Pat Bean

Finally the storm ended and I spent the next two days hiking the park’s trails, and watching birds and other wildlife. It was with reluctance that I finally left this special place. It’s too bad Queen Wilhelmina never visited. I’m sure she would have enjoyed her stay.

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Birding Adds the Oomph to my Travels

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on December 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 “I consider myself to have been the bridge between the shotgun and the binoculars in bird watching. Before I came along, the primary way to observe birds was to shoot them and stuff them.” — Roger Tory Peterson

Travels With Maggie

Nothing could be finer than an early morning outing with fellow birders of the Wasatch Chapter of Audubon. Ever since I seriously began birding, which was back in 1999, the chapter has had a Wednesday morning bird walk. When I first hooked up with the group, I had to play hooky from work to join them.

A California quail hides among the weeds. I spotted him on an outing to Willard Bay in Northern Utah while birding this past May with old friends. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 Shortly thereafter I was inspired to write a weekly bird column. So instead of playing hooky while I was roaming all over Utah’s Wasatch Front on these Wednesdays, I could honestly report that I was doing research.

 Since I knew next to nothing about birds, the research included a lot of that, plus the generous help of the chapter’s birding experts, Jack Rensel and Keith Evans. Both these guys had been at this sport since they were young boys – and both had tales to tell of being suspected of unsavory deeds because of wandering around alone with binoculars in hands. They grew up at a time when birding wasn’t a well known hobby, and certainly not one boys took up.

 Thankfully, Roger Tory Peterson, who put together the first field guide that made birding possible for us non-ornithologists, watched birds as a boy even before Jack and Keith’s time.

 My oldest son makes fun of my birdwatching, considering it a little old lady’s sport. Well, it can be that. But it can also involve long hikes in the dark so as to arrive in time to watch male sage grouse play drums with their chest sacs to attract the ladies, or a hike over treacherous lava to watch Flamingos at a small lake in the Galapagos.

 Birding gives my travels that extra bit of oomph. For example, the boat ride to Matagorda Island off the coast of Texas was pleasant enough in itself, but getting to see whooping cranes as well was like the salt around the glass of a good margarita. And the climb up a ridge to see a black-capped vireo at Lost Maples State Park gave me a good dose of needed exercise.

 Looking for birds in the landscape has also enriched my travels in yet other ways. One who is looking for a tiny bird in the bush is not likely to miss the moose in the stream. And when I’m visiting Northern Utah, my passion for birds gives me a legitimate reason to once again hook up with my old Wednesday morning birding buddies.

 And, as I said, nothing could be finer than time spent with them.

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100 Things I’m Thankful For

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , on November 25, 2010| 3 Comments »

I'm thankful for hiking trails. Pictured above is the Franconia Notch Flume Trail in New Hampshire. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 

100 Things for which I’m Thankful – In No Particular Order

  1. Belly laughs
  2. The sound of rain pinging on my RV roof
  3. Family, which these days include five awesome children, 15 delightful grandchildren and three perfect great grandchildren.
  4. My black cocker spaniel, Maggie, who curls up with me on cold nights.
  5. Rich African coffee heavily laced with cream
  6. Scenic byways
  7. Cool nights that let me snuggle beneath a soft quilt
  8. Good health – and hope I can say this for many more years
  9. Hearty hugs from people who mean it
  10. A good massage from a woman with magic fingers
  11. Being a writer
  12. My association with the women of Story Circle Network
  13. A good haircut
  14. Scenic hiking trails
  15. Achievements of my kids, grandkids and friends
  16. My zest for life
  17. Walking barefoot on a sandy beach
  18. Learning something new
  19. The flash of sun illuminating the tail feathers of an overhead red-tailed hawk
  20. Hot baths
  21. My new Kindle
  22. Ibuprofen for strained muscles
  23. Discovering a new author I like
  24. Taking a grandchild on their first roller coaster ride
  25. Watching fall redress the trees
  26. Van Gogh paintings
  27. Butterflies
  28. My computer and the Internet
  29. Maggie’s quirky personality
  30. Rainbows
  31. Living in America where a woman can safely travel alone
  32. Sunrises and sunsets
  33. Funky, dangling earrings that belie my age
  34. Bra-less days
  35. Summers not spent in Texas
  36. Good memories of my mother
  37. Old friends and new friends
  38. A field of wildflowers
  39. Reese”s peanut butter cups
  40. The wind blowing through my hair
  41. My daily walks with Maggie
  42. Hot soup on a cold day
  43. A wee-morning hours chatter with a long-time girlfriend over Jack Daniels and coke.
  44. A daughter-in-law guardian angel who keeps track of my travels, forwards my mail and supplies me with my favorite coffee
  45. The honking of geese as they fly overhead
  46. Lake reflections
  47. Family meals eaten around a table
  48. My curiosity
  49. Comfortable shoes
  50. America, the beautiful
  51. Clean showers in RV parks
  52. Electricity
  53. My bicycle
  54. People who care deeply about something
  55. The wolf’s return to Yellowstone
  56. The journey between destinations
  57. A comfortable bed and a perfect pillow
  58. WordPress for hosting this blog
  59. New white sox
  60. Water in all its forms
  61. Scented candles
  62. A sky full of stars
  63. Glasses that allow me to read
  64. Pleasant surprises
  65. An honest politician
  66. Birdwatching with my birdwatching son
  67. Evenings spent around a campfire
  68. Good Sam emergency services
  69. A Jack in the Box chocolate shake, which I only discovered this year
  70. Nice and Easy, No. 99 – so I can forever be a blonde
  71. Coyote howls
  72. Wrinkle-free clothing
  73. Gentle dentists
  74. My independence
  75. The fragrant scent of a blooming gardenia bush, which always reminds me of my grandmother
  76. The diversity I find in people watching
  77. Large, gnarly live oak trees
  78. Audible books
  79. Maps
  80. A good editor
  81. Books with satisfying endings
  82. The strong women of the past who fought so I could vote
  83. A cup of Earl Grey tea
  84. The color turquoise
  85. Boat rides
  86. Antibiotics and vaccinations
  87. Smiles
  88. A frisky squirrel in a tree outside my RV
  89. Guided trolley tours
  90. My point and shoot digital camera
  91. Washers and dryers
  92. Blank journals
  93. A shady RV camp site beside a small lake
  94. A hearty 11 a.m. breakfast for lunch
  95. The music of a humpback whale
  96. Stained glass windows
  97. That there are still plenty of birds to add to my life list
  98. Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman Hear Me Roar”
  99. The family computer nerds who get the bugs out of my laptop
  100. Readers of my blog

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