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Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Remembering Albert Payson Terhune

Posted in aging, Books, Dogs, Journeys, Writing on May 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Scamp in 2019, just a few days after I got him from a shelter. He was terribly matted and here he is showing off his first haircut. He weighed 17 pounds and I thought he was almost full-grown. He weighs 45 pounds today. Photo by Jean Gowen

Aging My Way

Since I decided to blog more about books, and do it five days a week, I quickly realized I couldn’t just mention titles I was currently reading. Even I don’t read that much.

The solution, which requires me to go back into my past, has been quite enjoyable, like the memory that popped into my head of my favorite childhood author: Albert Payson Terhune (1872-1942). Among a dazzling array of other books, he wrote over 30 dog-related titles – most of which I’ve probably read. His books were the first ones I looked for during my weekly library visits when I was growing up.

With a bit of current research, I learned that some of Terhune’s books are available for 99 cents on Kindle, and I downloaded Lad, A Dog and Chips, two that I do recall reading. Terhune’s books may have started my lifelong adoration of dogs, a love that became even greater when I became the sole occupant of my abode almost 50 years ago.

There have been four dogs in my life since then, each a cherished companion. The latest is Scamp, a Siberian Husky-Shih Tzu mix who became my soul mate seven years ago. Albert said: “Any man with money to make the purchase can become a dog owner. But no man — spend he ever so much coin and food and tact in the effort – may become a dog’s master without the consent of the dog.”

However, when it comes to Scamp, it’s debatable about which of us is the master.

Meanwhile, on perusing the two books I downloaded, I discovered that dogs back in the author’s days, and mine, weren’t the pampered pets they are today. Their masters weren’t always kindly and they mostly didn’t live indoor lives and sleep on beds. Of course, all dogs today still don’t have as coddled a life as Scamp

What’s a childhood book you remember?

Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion Scamp. She is an avid reader whose mind is always asking questions (many of which are unanswerable), an enthusiastic birder, staff writer for Story Circle Network’s Journal, author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), and is always searching for life’s silver lining.

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All About Us – And Happiness

Posted in African Safari, aging, Art, Birds, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged Sapiens, tanzania, Yuval Noah Harari on May 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

***A memory of an afternoon safari in Tanzania. — Art by Pat Bean***

My Way

Book: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, one of the top 100 books of the 21^st Century according to the New York Times Readers’ Pick.

Wow! That was my first reaction when I started reading this book. It’s 2.5 million years of history squeezed into 599 pages – and it’s all about us. There’s the good, the bad, the ugly and questions about what’s next.

I read it a while back, but unlike some books that quickly fade from my memory, this one has stuck with me. I’m thinking about reading it again. What would be really fun is to find a used copy in which someone has underlined passages and/or made margin notes. Someone else’s thoughts is one of the reasons I like purchasing used books.

Art: It’s supposed to be a Marabou Stork. I saw lots of them in Tanzania in 2007. From the back, if you have a decent imagination, these birds look like they are wearing a long black coat, which has prompted some people to call it the undertaker bird. Anyway, this quick sketch was fun to do, but the best part about it was that it reminded me of my two-week African safari, during which I identified 182 different bird species. While that’s not an impressive number for what I could have seen, it pleased me.

Quote: And that brings me to a favorite quote, which I will paraphrase because I can’t find it or who said it. Simply put: “Happiness is not always getting what you want but loving what you have.” Anyone know who said it?

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Strong Women

Posted in aging, Art, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged Being Wrong, Kathryn Schulz, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line. on May 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Yellow makes me happy. — Art by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

“My grandmother turned toward a guard – she was in line to be shot into a pit – and said, ‘What happens if I step out of line?’ And he said, ‘I don’t have the heart to shoot you, but somebody will.’ And she stepped out of line. And for that I am here.” – Alex Borstein.

This quote opens the book The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line, which I was given as a recent birthday present after I requested stories about strong women. It’s about “girls” who stepped out of line and helped win World War II. I’m loving this book.

Quote: “Being right might be gratifying, but in the end it is static … being wrong is hard and humbling, and sometimes even dangerous, but in the end it is a journey and a story … to fuck up is to find adventure.” – Kathryn Schultz, Being Wrong,

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Art, Books and Quotes

Posted in aging, Art, Books, Journeys, Quote for the Day, Writing on May 20, 2026| 1 Comment »

Aging My Way

Having just turned 87, and struggling a bit with the rigors of aging, I’ve started focusing on doing more things that bring me joy. And while this blog is one of the things that give me joy, it’s been pretty sporadic lately.

Perhaps after 1,658 posts, not that I’m counting, I might have run out of words. I think I’ll take my cue from Albert Einstein, who said insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results, and come up with a new tactic.

And since I still want to blog, I’ve decided, at least for a while, just to share a piece of daily art, a book recommendation and a quote. I think I can manage this. So, let’s give it a try. Comments, and book suggestions, appreciated.

Art: It’s supposed to be a Least Bittern, I say supposed because I didn’t get in much identifiable details. I tend to paint more birds than anything else. They fascinate me. Also, I should note, painting is something I long ago decided is not something I have to be good at. I reserve that inner critic for my writing.

Good Read: Welcome to the Hyunam Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum.

“To read is to see things from someone else’s perspective,” the author writes. And boy do we need that today – at least from my perspective. Originally written in Korean, it’s a heart-warming story in which a bookstore brings lonely people together.

Quote: “…my soul is gladdened by his smile, a broad human smile, as warm as the applause of a large crowd.” Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet. This is not so much a quote as just a good sentence that brings a smile to my face.

Comments, quotes, art and book suggestions, appreciated.

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Posted in aging, Art, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged Dorothy Gilman, The Marginalian on April 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The Joy of Being Able to Read

*A somewhat likeness of Chigger, the cat that owned me for 18 years. —* Art by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

Polish poet Wisława Szymborska, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature, wrote a poem called Possibilities in which she noted her preferences. I love it.

Among her preferences were cats, Dickens to Dostoyevsky, the absurdity of writing poems to the absurdity of not writing poems, Grimms’ fairy tales to the newspapers’ front pages, and the hell of chaos to the hell of order.

It’s a long poem, and by the end of it I felt as if I had come to know Wislawa, and if she had been a friend I would have grieved her death in 2012. Now I just feel a sense of loss because I didn’t know her.

The poem, meanwhile, inspired me to think about my own preferences. I prefer dogs to cats, although I do not dislike the latter, and was owned by one named Chigger for 18 years.

Fantasy, mystery and memoir are my favorite reading matter, although I also read just about anything except true crime and horror. I get enough of those genres from today’s newspapers. I could add TV news but I don’t listen to it. I read my realities.

As for writing, to not do so for me would be about the same as not breathing.

Finally, as much as I try to order my days, which Dorothy Gilman (author of the Mrs. Pollifax series which I adore) says can’t be done like a table setting, I quickly become bored without surprises. I love spur of the moment activities – and disorder seems to follow me around.

It seems Wislawa and I have a lot in common, which of course I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t come across her poem in The Marginalian, Maria Popova’s newsletter. (newsletter@themarginalian.org). The joy I get from reading, especially these days when I’m nesting more than adventuring, is a magnificent treasure.

So, what are you reading?

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Road Trips: Two Ways

Posted in aging, Books, Favorite Places, Journeys, road trip, Writing, tagged Blythe Roberson on April 12, 2026| 1 Comment »

***Blythe Roberson and I both pondered the petroglyphs at Capitol Reef National Park in Southern Utah. It’s comforting knowing someone else and I shared America’s beauty and wonders.***

Aging My Way

Most days I am content. I have a comfortable place to live, friends and loved ones who care about me, I have a great dog, and I’m rich enough to buy a book I want when I want it – and that’s rich enough for me.

But there are other days when I want more, like reasons why at nearly 87 I’m still here on this planet. It’s a nagging concern that is probably shared by others who have left behind a life of chaotic activity for one of having the luxury of unscheduled time.

I thought about these things this morning when I was reading Blythe’s Roberson’s book, America the Beautiful. A comedian, humor writer and author, Blythe says she snapped the day Mary Oliver died, suddenly realizing she needed to do the “great American road trip.” And so it was that two months later, at just 28, Blythe quit her job and was on the road in her dad’s old Prius. –

I immediately identified with Blythe, although in my case, while I knew when I was 10 years old that I had to take that great American road trip, it took me 55 years instead of just two months to accomplish the dream. In my defense, Blythe’s adventures only lasted a few months while mine lasted nine years – and I did it comfortably in a gutsy, new 21-foot RV.

But a high priority on both Blythe and my agendas for the road trip was visiting National Parks, where we thought we would see the best of America – and we did. To give structure to her trip, Blythe decided to earn junior ranger badges from each park she visited. I chose the task of seeing as many new bird species as I possible could.

The need for structure to my days continues to be a nagging concern, which I answer with birdwatching, reading books like Blythe’s that stimulate my little gray cells, and writing, such as this blog, personal journaling and an occasional paid writing assignment. I also have a few other creative activities along with social interactions with friends and loved ones who continue to enrich my life.

Such things are necessary to keep me from obsessing too much about the daily news, and other disturbing minutia like saggy boobs, wrinkled skin and thinning hair. Thankfully, the years have repaid the insults with the wisdom to take the days, and enjoy and survive them, as they come – and be grateful for them.

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The Magic of Starlings

Posted in aging, Birds, Books, Journeys, tagged Antelope Island, Charlie Bingham, European starlings on February 10, 2026| 1 Comment »

***European Starling — Wikimedia Photo***

Aging My Way

The European starling is one of the birds I quickly learned to identify after I became addicted to bird watching back in 1999 – when I was a mere 60-year-old. It’s a black bird with a distinctive yellow bill and fairly common.

I saw starlings often when I lived in Northern Utah, and when I drove around the country for nine years in a small RV, and currently here in Tucson where I settled down in 2013.

The birds first arrived in this country in the late 19^th century when a flock of them were released in New York’s Central Park. Many died, but the ones that lived thrived and can now be seen in every U.S. state including Alaska and Hawaii.

The birds are both loved and hated, the latter because they are an invasive creature and they often flock in huge numbers. But count me as a lover

There was nothing really special about these birds, or so I thought until I had a close encounter with them during a field trip to Great Salt Lake’s Antelope Island. They aren’t just black. When the sun shines on them they glisten with a rainbow of color, so much so that when I saw them in this light, I was amazed.

And their voices can mimic just about anything, from a squeaky bike to a melodious tune, one that once had me looking around a grocery store parking lot to find the singer. I was shocked when I realized it was just what most of us consider an ordinary starling.

So, next time you see one – and you might only have to step out your front door to do that – you might want to take a closer look.

Bean Pat: The Life Affirming Magic of Birds by Charlie Bingham. It was while reading this book this morning that got me thinking about my starling sightings.

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The Rightness of Wrongness

Posted in aging, Art, Books, Journeys, tagged Being Wrong, Kathryn Schulz on February 4, 2026| 2 Comments »

Hey! Am I in the wrong place? — Art by Pat Bean

“It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.” – Moliere

Aging My Way

I’m reading Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz, who after talking about the benefits of being right, extolled the positive aspects of being wrong, which at some point in our lives we all are whether we want to admit it or not.

As I read, I thought about my friend Jean who just this morning pointed out, gleefully I might note, that I was wrong about how I interpreted some email instructions I had received. She heard otherwise.

Because we are friends, it was good-natured banter that in one form or another has continued ever since we became friends over 12 years ago. We both always want to be right.

But while I was thinking about this quite recent episode, I thought back to a time nearly 60 years ago when being wrong was one of the best things happening in my life.

I had squeezed through a back door into working for a small Texas daily newspaper because I wanted to be a reporter. And what I knew about becoming that was absolutely nothing.

Thankfully for me, the newsroom was always short-staffed, and so I got an opportunity to do a bit of everything. The problem was that while I was told what to do, no one had the time, or patience, to tell me how to do it – that is until I did it wrong.

Then, everyone had time to tell me. And that was how I gained enough journalism experience to have a successful career that I loved for 37 years.

I agree with Kathryn. Being wrong isn’t always wrong.

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One Sentence Says Much

Posted in aging, Art, Books, tagged Best American Essays 2021 on December 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“In this trembling moment … is it still possible to face the gathering darkness, and say to the physical earth, and to all its creatures, including ourselves, fiercely and without embarrassment, I love you, and to embrace the burning world.” — Barry Lopez

I love these words by Barry Lopez, a writer whose essays and books are in tune with my wonder and love of nature. I came across them while doing a writing exercise designed to interrupt my recent bout of writer’s block.

The exercise was to simply open any book, to any page, and write down a sentence found there, then to reflect on it. I chose the book The Best American Essays 2021, which was sitting on the top of a stack of books to be read.

Finding Lopez’s sentence, which was much longer than shared above, during my first attempt at doing the exercise feels like fate is playing a game with me. It feels too perfect a sentence for someone like me at this time in my life.

I badly want to believe that better days, for America, for the whole world in fact, still lie ahead for my great-grandchildren and their children. I want to believe that while I’ve been forced to accept that the world isn’t fair, that what goes around still comes around.

And I need to believe that there is still a purpose in life for this old abroad who can no longer climb a mountain or paddle a boat down a river. Yes Barry, I can still tell the earth, and its multitude of creatures – well except maybe a couple – that I do love you. Meanwhile, such a sentence as yours heightens my faith that the written word can help bring change about.

It means that as long as I can stream words together that foster love and acceptance of those who are different, my life still does have purpose.

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Where Are Your Men?

Posted in aging, Books, Journeys on November 19, 2025| 1 Comment »

Me and my ever-faithful rafting partner, Kim, and the daughter of another female rafting partner as we retire my first, and most fun, raft.

Aging My Way

The year was 1983. I was 44 and recently divorced when I bought a five-person raft. I considered it a man-toy, and was quite proud of myself.

From then until 2004, every late spring, summer and early fall would find me with friends floating one river or another, including the Snake, Salmon and the Colorado’s 225-mile stretch through the Grand Canyon twice. Running white-water rapids became my passion – and when I was in my boat, I was the caption.

With that background in mind, you can understand why I am so happily engrossed reading Where Are Your Men? It’s an anthology written by a group of women who continue in their 60s and beyond to paddle down rivers without any men. I bought the book in Moab, Utah, at a place called Back of Beyond, my favorite bookstore in the world.

The women aren’t man-haters and even dedicated their book to the men in their lives, but they understand the special dynamics that happen when women alone rely on their own strengths and talents. These, admittedly, are different from their opposite gender.

And when it comes to river-running, as the river pretty quickly taught me and which the women in the book confirmed, one can fight the current or flow with the river. As a woman, I depended on the river’s strength to put my raft in the right spot to avoid crashing into rocks, while most of the men I went down the river with depended on their own strength to keep their rafts or kayaks out of trouble.

I saw this time and time again.

Meanwhile, this is a lesson that is standing me in good stead as an 86-year-old who no longer has the strength of her younger self. More and more I’m finding different ways to accomplish daily tasks, from becoming more left-handed since my right shoulder doesn’t work properly these days, to doing harder tasks in several installments.

Thankfully, I can still read for as long as I want. And reading Where Are Your Men? lets me imagine myself sitting around a campfire with these women sharing river tales – which always get bigger with each telling.

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