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Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Just a Reminder

Posted in Books, Journeys, tagged , , , on July 13, 2013| 6 Comments »

             “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C. S. Lewis

Some say the Mourne Mountains in Ireland were Lewis' inspiration for the land of Narnia. -- Wikipedia photo

Some say the Mourne Mountains in Ireland were Lewis’ inspiration for the land of Narnia. — Wikipedia photo

The Chronicles of Narnia

            One of the nice things about growing older is the opportunity to go back and reread the books that you loved reading as a child. I recently did that with the “Chronicles of Narnia.”

What fun!

And this is how film makers pictures it in one of the Narnia movies.

And this is how film makers pictured it in one of the Narnia movies.

As a child, I read for the love of the adventure, not being able to turn the pages fast enough to satisfy my need to know what happens next. I still do that. But I also sometimes take time to look for deeper meanings.

It was easy to find them in Lewis’ Narnia, which he wrote about in seven fantasy novels for young people. The books sold over 100 million copies, and are now being made into movies that  have hit it big at the box office.

I guess I’m not the only one enchanted by Lewis’ imaginative mind and words.

More C.S. Lewis

“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to earn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

            “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

            “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

            “We are what we believe we are.”

            “Reason is the natura order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.”

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Being Present http://tinyurl.com/pxzl5nk Something worth remembering.

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Bookish Friday

Posted in Art, Birds, Books, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , , on June 14, 2013| 7 Comments »

“I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do.”  — Alice Walker

A recent page from one of my art journals. As I sketched the osprey, I thought about all the times I had seen one, and good memories flooded my little gray cells. Illustration by Pat Bean

A recent page from one of my art journals. As I sketched the osprey, I thought about all the times I had seen one, and good memories flooded my little gray cells. Illustration by Pat Bean

What I’m Reading

            Ditto to what Alice Walker said. I can’t help but wonder where all my bins of journals will end up after I’m gone. Hopefully not in the trash, but that’s always a possibility.

An Illustrated Journal, the book I'm currently reading.

An Illustrated Journey, the book I’m currently reading.

It would be nice if some of what I’ve lived through as a woman fighting for equal rights and equal pay found their way into a women’s center at some university. And it would be nice to think that some of my progeny, the greats, might want to know who know who I was.

Regardless, keeping my journals is simply something I have to do. It’s part of me and for me.  It’s as if I must write it down for things to become real.

Meanwhile, I love reading other people’s journals. And since I’m beginning to add drawings to my own journals, I’m particularly enjoying “An Illustrated Journey: Inspiration from the Private Art Journals of Traveling Artists, Illustrators and Designers,” put together by Danny Gregory.

It’s a delightful book, with lots of tips on keeping an illustrated journal. And since each artist does it his or her way, I have lots of choices.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: About Elephants http://tinyurl.com/m2l2r4z  Our Journeys are all the Same.

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Zucchini Again? Why Thank You!

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , on June 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

            “The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” – Albert Einstein

Blooming this morning. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Blooming this morning. — Photo by Pat Bean

Morning Walk with Pepper

            I have many friends who find joy and relaxation digging in the dirt and making something grow. I appreciate them greatly, probably more so because I’m not one of them.

Simple and elegant -- Photo by Pat Bean

Simple and elegant — Photo by Pat Bean

The only thing outside of a potted plant that I’ve ever successfully grown was a patch of strawberries, once.  The robins, who knew the exact second they would be ripe, enjoyed them.

For most of my life I faked an appreciation of gardening, perhaps trying to convince myself I enjoyed getting hot and dirty and pained from stooping over.  It simply seemed unwomanly to admit that I didn’t like digging in the dirt.

Finally I accepted my true self as a non-dirt-pottering kind of woman. It felt good.

I love gardens, and gladly eat the delicious tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas and all the other home-grown vegetables that find their way into my kitchen. I even eat the zucchini that is a never-ending gift from my gardening friends.

And no morning would be complete without a view of Mother Nature's handiwork, the Catalina mountains. -- Photo by Pat Bean

And no morning would be complete without a view of Mother Nature’s handiwork, the Catalina mountains. — Photo by Pat Bean

And I dare say no one could appreciate their flower gardens more than me. Such live, growing beauty seeps deep into my heart.

So today, I just want to send out a big thanks to those responsible for my apartment’s flower gardens, and all the other hard work of keeping the grounds  trimmed and edged and growing. I find some new growing miracle on almost every walk.

And thanks to Mother Nature, too.  Mountains and wildflowers seep deep into my heart, too.

 

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Family Matters

Posted in Books, Journeys, tagged , , , on May 18, 2013| 10 Comments »

       “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”  ~Jane Howard

I’m a Blessed Old Broad

My women’s luncheon Wednesday opened my eyes to how blessed I am. There were nine of us, but because of the table configuration, I spent the time primarily talking with three other women.

My grandsons, Patrick, JJ and Tony, giving Gypsy Lee a bath. -- Photo by Pat Bean

My grandsons, Patrick, JJ and Tony, giving Gypsy Lee a bath. — Photo by Pat Bean

They were in the neighborhood of what I call my old broad age, a term I use affectionately and which is an age I’m happy to be enjoying. They, however, were concerned about what this age portends.

I didn’t understand at first, and when Lady A said she had moved from her third floor home because it was too hard carrying groceries and other items up three flights of stairs. I, laughingly said, I used my three local grandsons for the heavy stuff.

But then Lady B mentioned that she had to go into a nursing home, which had been quite traumatizing for her, while recovering from a hip transplant. And Lady C said that would probably be her fate, too, if she became disabled.

All three women, I suddenly realized, were single with no children or other family members still living. It was an unhappy fact the trio had long been aware of, however.

It made me realize how fortunate I had been when I broke my ankle earlier this year. My youngest daughter was there for me, doing my shopping and laundry and taking me to the doctor until I could once again drive and get around on my own.

And what's fun is that I get to do such things as attend Tony and Patrick's band concerts, which I did just this past Thursday.-- Photo by Pat Bean

And what’s fun is that I get to do such things as attend Tony and Patrick’s band concerts, which I did just this past Thursday.– Photo by Pat Bean

I have other children and grandchildren as well, who have made it clear that they will be there for me if I ever need them. I’m an independent cuss and hope I will always be so, but I have to admit that knowing they want to be there for me is comforting.

As ladies A, B and C, who had not known each other before the luncheon, realized what they shared, I became the outsider of the group. This was a fact that was actually noted by one of the ladies as the three women began sharing contact information with each other as part of a newly formed support group.

I was extremely happy that they had found each other, and for the first time in my life glad I didn’t fit in. It didn’t feel at all like what Anne Lamott had described in “Bird by Bird” as that kid standing alone by the fence, which had been me growing up.

 

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Thar she blows http://tinyurl.com/a9aeoaz This blog has made me want to go back and reread “Moby Dick.

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Words of Wisdom

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , on May 14, 2013| 4 Comments »

Nark Twain lives on in memory and on this Garden City, Kansas, bench.

Nark Twain lives on in memory and on this Garden City, Kansas, bench.

         “Life is short, break the rules. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably and never regret anything that makes you smile” – Mark Twain

From Mark Twain

I collect quotes, and Mark Twain’s words are not only worth repeating, they’re worth living by.

What’s your favorite Twain book. Mine is “Huckleberry Finn.”

Samuel Clements, aka Mark Twain, said:

The Mark Twain Bridge across his beloved Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, -- Photo by Pat Bean

The Mark Twain Bridge across his beloved Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri, — Photo by Pat Bean

“Don’t go round saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.

            “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

            “Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.” 

            “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect”

            “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

            “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

            “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”

            “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

But Twain’s “Prayer for War,” which was not allowed to be published during his life time, is, I believe, his best work. I cry every time I read it, and think it should be read daily by all who think war is the best solution to this world’s problems.

I didn’t plan on quoting it when I started what I thought would be a fun blog. But now I feel a responsibility to share it.

The War Prayer

By Mark Twain

“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.”       

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: The Iris and the Lily http://tinyurl.com/crn8hbt After that I needed a bit of Mother Nature to calm my soul. Perhaps you do too.

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Book Friday: Anne Bishop

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , , , on May 3, 2013| 7 Comments »

The woods play a big role in the Tir Alainn series by Anne Bishop, so I thought I would illustrate my blog with a couple of my favorite tree photos. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The woods play a big role in the Tir Alainn series by Anne Bishop, so I thought I would illustrate my blog with one of  my favorite tree photos. — Photo by Pat Bean

Across bridges and into the woods, just like in "Shadows and Light." -- Photo by Pat Bean

Across the bridge  and into the woods, just like in “Shadows and Light.” — Photo by Pat Bean

            “The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

I  Kept Turning Pages

I’m a bit groggy today. It could be because I stayed up way too early – like until around 3 a.m. – to finish reading Anne Bishop’s “Shadows and Light,” the second in her Tir Alainn trilogy.

I only discovered Anne last month when I was browsing the science fiction and fantasy section of the local library. I’m always looking for good fantasy books and new authors. And after I had read the first in this series, “The Pillars of the World,” I was hooked on Anne.

The  main characters are the Fey and Witches – and strong women. What’s so fun about the creativity allowed in fantasy writing is that Anne’s characterization of Witches and the Fey are quite different from how other authors portray them.

It reminds me of the many different King Arthur versions floating around out there. My all time favorite is Mary Stewart’s Merlin series that begins with “The Crystal Cave,” published in 1970. I was a big fan of Mary long before that, hooked on her historical fiction, with mystery thrown into the mix.” I think I read just about everything Mary ever wrote, including “Nine Coaches Waiting, “My Brother Michael” and Moonspinners.

Just thinking about Mary makes me want to go and revisit some of her work, particularly the Merlin books.  But then there’s also my desire to read Anne’s third book in the Tir Alainn trilogy, “The House of Gaian,” – and her other books as well. I find that if I like one book by an author, I usually like their almost everything they write.

I wonder how much sleep I really need?

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

  Bean’s Pat: Life’s Total Immersion http://tinyurl.com/c23slef This blogger better expressed some of my own thoughts about why I like fantasy.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture

Posted in Birds, Books, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , , , on April 30, 2013| 2 Comments »

  “If we are to achieve a richer culture rich in contrasting value we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” – Margaret Mead

Clearly these figures located at the Chinatown Center in Austin, Texas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Clearly these figures located at the Chinatown Center in Austin, Texas. — Photo by Pat Bean

What Culture? Who’s Culture?

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            I found this week’s topic confusing. Culture has many meanings, and some of those I think depend on personal interpretations.

A doctor might think of cultivating a bacteria, while a farmer thinks of cultivated land. Are we talking about culture as being educated, or as how it relates to an ethnic group. Or simply an  everyday existence shared by people who live close together and share the same values?

The culture of  people who live by the sea and make their living fishing would be quite different from a group of apartment dwellers who take the train into work every morning.

Since I couldn’t decide what would best exemplify culture, I just picked a couple of photos to share that I liked and that I think represent two diverse cultures.

Bean’s Pat: A Record-Breaking Birding Day  http://tinyurl.com/bv7s7sv 294 Texas species in 24 hours. This one is for the birders among my readers. It’s from the Cornell University Ornithological blog. Anybody here ever seen or read “A Big Year?  Great book, good movie!.

 

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What Makes a Perfect Day

Posted in Birds, Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , on April 26, 2013| 1 Comment »

            “If  you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” — Jim Valvano

The Difference a Half Century Makes 

It's got to be a perfect day if I get to go out birding with old friends. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It’s got to be a perfect day if I get to go out birding with old friends. — Photo by Pat Bean

A perfect day at 24 and at 74 is like two different worlds. In one I would be rafting down the Colorado, and making mad, passionate love under the stars with a soul mate that night.

In the other, I would be happy to have just met my writing goal for the day and to have learned or seen something new.

Watching an awesome pink and purple sunrise and a fiery orange and red sunset would be included in both worlds, however, as would be a good book to read, a nice stiff Jack and Coke (well it would have been a Virgin Coke in the first world because I didn’t drink until I was 37) before a gourmet dinner that someone else cooked.

And seeing birds, like this California quail only makes the day more perfect -- is that even possible? -- Photo by Pat Bean

And seeing birds, like this California quail only makes the day more perfect — is that even possible? — Photo by Pat Bean

A perfect day would also include feeling loved, which is easy at 74 but was nigh impossible at 24.

The truth is I’ve had many days I would consider perfect – and the closer to 74 I became the more abundant they’ve become. Hmmmmm?

Sure it would  be grand to tackle the Mighty Colorado through the Grand Canyon as the lead paddler in a six-person raft once again, but that’s something I’ve had to accept my 74-year-old body isn’t up to doing.

The end of  all my days on the river were all perfect days, but for some odd reason I find today’s  mellower activities  have a way of leaving me content and satisfied with my life in a way that I never was at 24.

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An Illustrated Journal

Posted in Art, Books, Journeys, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2013| 9 Comments »

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh

It was supposed to be 30 cats. -- Pat Bean

It was supposed to be 30 cats. — Pat Bean

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” Pablo Picasso

The Goal to Not Take Art so Seriously

Before I became a writer — which I accept that I I was at the age of 25 forward, but didn’t acknowledge until I thought I was skilled enough at the age of 50  — I also wanted to be an artist.

A voice inside me said you can’t do both – silly voice. Occasionally over the years I ignored the voice and did a few paintings, most of which I threw away or which ended hanging up in the homes of children, whom I assumed only said they liked them because they loved me.

002          And that’s probably true. Although I have to admit, I do know viewing art is like reading. What one person loves another can just as easily hate. Neither writing nor art is like math, in which two and two always add up to four.

Recently I’ve had the urge to keep an illustrated journal just as I do a daily written one. To that end I was reading Carla Sonheim’s “Drawing Lab,” which is about making art fun. The first exercise was to get in bed and draw 30 cats.

I got bored after six, which is how my journal page “Six Cats” evolved. I do so love color and I had to fill the page with something.

The next page in my daily art journal is a collage. My three youngest grandchildren made me large homemade cards for my birthday. I adored them, but really didn’t want to begin cluttering up my small apartment with this kind of thing.

I didn’t have the heart, however, to throw them away. So I snipped bits and pieces from all three of the cards and created the collage you see here. I added the photo of J.J. because he gave it to me on my birthday.

Since it took me 25 years of writing before I could call myself a writer, I’m certainly not ready to call myself an artist – and might never be.

But I am having fun.        

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

    Bean’s Pat: An old tale  http://tinyurl.com/ajhdxkw More is not always best.

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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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