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Bookish Wednesday

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , on March 27, 2013| 12 Comments »

 

            “A great book that comes from a great thinker – it is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth, with beauty too.” — Theodore Parker

Mercy Thompson. Briggs' fictional character, lives in Washington not too far from this view of the Columbia River. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Mercy Thompson. Briggs’ fictional character, lives in Washington not too far from this view of the Columbia River. — Photo by Pat Bean

Mercy Thompson

            I discovered Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series a little over a year ago. It’s an urban fantasy that is normally not one of my favorite genres. While fantasy is one of the genres I read, I’m more into dragons and wizards than werewolves and vampires.

But I was at my older daughter home and looking for something to read.

“Try this,” Deborah said, and handed me “Moon Called.”

Perhaps on a clear day, Mercy can see Mount Rainier. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Perhaps on a clear day, Mercy can see Mount Rainier. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I doubt I’ll like it,” I said.

“Yes you will. Now read it,” Deborah demanded.

“OK, OK,” I said, thinking I would read a few pages and then go looking for something else in my daughter’s huge library. Instead I ended up staying up until 2 a.m. because I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it.

Briggs’ Mercy, a mechanic with a native American heritage who lives next door to a werewolf, has a vampire friend and can transform herself into a coyote, was a fascinating character whose actions both surprised and delighted me.

The writing was good, the plots complicated, the heroine strong and sassy, and the book had enough depth that it made me both laugh and cry. Within a few weeks, I had read all six of the Mercy Books, which in addition to “Moon Called,” include “Blood Bound,” “Iron Kissed,” “Bone Crossed,” “Silver Borne,” and “River Marked.” I also have now read many of Briggs other books – she’s a prolific writer.

It’s my normal reading scenario when I come across an author who can have me giggling one moment and looking for a tissue the next.

And just now I discovered, while looking up the order of the Mercy Thompson books, that there is a new Mercy Thompson book out, “Frost Burned.”

It’s downloading on my Kindle even as I finish this blog. I suspect it’s going to be a late night again.

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Bookish Wednesday

Posted in Books, Journeys, tagged , , , , on March 6, 2013| 3 Comments »

          “This book is many things – a sketchbook, a journal, an attempt to understand other beings – but it is not a dispassionate recitation of scientific truths about birds. It’s a series of stories that I hope will pull back a curtain on … minds.” – Julie Zickefoose on her book, “The Bluebird Effect”

"The Bluebird Effect by Julie Zickefoose

“The Bluebird Effect by Julie Zickefoose

A Book for Bird Lovers

          I’ve long been a Julie Zickefoose fan, mostly through enjoying her art and painting in Bird Watcher’s Digest, in which she was featured almost every month.

One of the watercolors by Julie Zickefoose included in the book.

One of the watercolors by Julie Zickefoose included in the book.

          Being a writer who often sent articles to the magazine on speculation, and who was rejected every time but once — and then my piece, after being accepted, was killed and not run although I did get a kill fee  – I was jealous.

          Then I learned that Julie was married to the magazine’s editor and I felt a bit better. She had an in that I didn’t. That’s not to say Julie’s work wasn’t worth of being in the magazine every month. I often thought it was the best piece of work in the Digest.

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          And I was thrilled when I discovered she had written a book, “The Bluebird Effect.” It became the very next book I bought. I buy, if you hadn’t guessed, about a half-dozen books a month, and read those and about a half-dozen more as well.

          Julie’s book didn’t disappoint. Her art work, from quick sketches to colorful and detailed watercolors provided a delightful and enlightening look at birds and nature.

          If, like me, you like birds and art, then I bet you will love this book.

          Bean’s Pat: Julie Zickefoose  http://tinyurl.com/d7w9vud Great blog. And it just seemed appropriate to share more of this artistic writer’s awesome work.

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Bookish Wednesday

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , on February 28, 2013| 9 Comments »

Bookish Wednesday

            “The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easing reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.”  — Pablo Neruda

Even though it was in the early hours of the morning when I got to sleep last night, I was up in time to take this picture of the moon over Tucson this morning which by the way is not photo-shopped. It's pure Mother Nature at her best. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Even though it was in the early hours when I got to sleep last night, I was up in time to take this picture of the moon over Tucson this morning ,which by the way is not photo-shopped. It’s Mother Nature at her best. — Photo by Pat Bean

The Joy of Finding a New Author

            I’m persnickety about the books I read, and it gets worse every year. Mostly I read mysteries, fantasies, travel and memoir. And lately I’ve been having a dry spell of finding books that don’t sound like ones I’ve read before, are well-written (That’s a must for me) and make me think.

            I got into fantasy about 10 years ago because there’s room for these stories to surprise me. Two and two doesn’t always have to add up to four when you experience a different world.

            Mysteries have always been a favorite because they present a puzzle. I want to be able to arrive at who-done-it before the final page, but not too far before.   

Mount McKinley in Denali National Park in Alaska.

Mount McKinley in Denali National Park in Alaska.

         Setting and character are also important for me. And I always  want to learn something.

            I know that’s asking a lot, but I’m been fortunate in finding a lot of authors who do it my way. The problem is that when I find one who does, I go on a reading binge and read just about everything they write. For example, I discovered Blaize Clement’s cat sitter books – light reading but rich in characterization, including the cats and dogs – and read all six of her books in two weeks.

            It took me several months to get through Robin Hobbs’ fantasy trilogies, and now I’m impatiently waiting for her fourth book in her Rain Wilds series to be released.

            Within the past year, I got turned onto Patricia Biggs’ Mercy Thompson series. This was a brand new fantasy genre for me, as I’ve been more into the classic dragon tales than werewolves and vampires. But I was hooked and once again, in a short time had read everything she had written.

            So it was with great delight that I discovered a new author yesterday, Dana Stabenow, who I saw had 21 books in her mystery series featuring Kate Shugat. Staying power, I hoped, was a good indication of good books. I started with Book One, “A Cold Day for a Murder.”

            I had my fingers cross when I started reading. I knew I had found a winner when I didn’t put the book down until the wee hours of the morning. The setting is Alaska, and Kate is a gritty character, an Aleut, that fits the wild Alaska park setting. I’m sure I’ll finish the book before I go to sleep tonight – and then I have 20 more to go. Yea!!

            “A room without a book is like a body without a soul.” – Cicero

            Bean’s Pat Volcano http://tinyurl.com/bk3qk92 While I like this photo, the story behind it is what intrigued me most.

 

 

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WORLDWALK

Posted in Birds, Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2013| 7 Comments »

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

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Where the road leads, I followed. This one let to the top of Mesa Verde in Colorado. — Photo by Pat Bean

There are needs, and then there are NEEDS

I know what it means to have a tugging in your heart that must be answered. A need to be loved, when I thought I wasn’t, was the first. Fulfilling that need had both good and bad consequences, but my children, their children, and their children made the journey worthwhile.

"I Married Adenture" by Osa Johnson.

“I Married Adventure” by Osa Johnson.

The second, the one that defined me as the wondering-wanderer, started at about age 12 when I read Osa Johnson’s “I Married Adventure.” From the first pages of that book until forever,  traveling to see the world has been in my blood. Exactly how I wanted to see North America firmed up after I read William Least Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways.

The third thing that tugged at me waited until I was a young mother with young children, all of whom had given me a very vexing day. My 6-year-old son had taught his younger brothers how to climb the backyard fence, then he and his 8-year-old sister had engaged in serious sibling rivalry all day. The youngest boy, meanwhile,  had gotten into the sugar bowl and had tracked the sweet granules all over the house.

I was close to being a sobbing mess when my 4-year-old son gifted me with a stemless yellow flower. The adoring look in his eyes turned what had been a shadowed day into one of bright sunshine. Never mind that he had stolen the flower from the neighbor’s yard.

blue-highways-2At about 2 a.m. the next morning, I woke up and felt this burning need to write about how that yellow flower had affected me. From that minute forward, I have needed to write as much as I needed to breathe.

Perhaps that is why when I learned about Steven Newman’s book, “Worldwalk,” in which he wrote about his four-year walk around the world, I knew it was a book I had to read.

I quickly discovered that the 1989 book –which details Steve’s optimistic 15,000-mile trek (of course he took boats where he couldn’t walk) across five continents and 20 countries, with only what would fit in a backpack — was not just not available on Kindle, it was out of print.

Thanks to the Internet, however, I found a rag-eared, stained paperback, copy for which I paid $1 plus $3.99 in shipping charges. The book didn’t disappoint, and I highly recommend it to any reader who believes the good in this world outweighs the bad, and who has an insatiable need to see the world, even if from an armchair.  

In fact, if you’re the first to request my copy, by privately messaging me on Facebook or e-mail, I’ll mail it to you free.  I love sharing books I have read.

Bean’s Pat:  Peregrine falcons http://tinyurl.com/b7hasb7 If you want to feel proud of yourself as a human being who cares that we share the land with wildlife, this is a bird that should help. Peregrine falcons, once nearing extinction, made a tremendous comeback after we humans started caring – and banned the use of DDT.

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The Coot and the Turtle

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , , , on February 13, 2013| 4 Comments »

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” ~Albert Einstein

A Fable is Hiding Here Somewhere

coot and turtle 2This photograph reminded me of the fables of Aesop, supposedly an ancient Greek slave and story-teller who often used animals in his stories to get across a point.

Probably one of the best known Aesop fable is the one when the slow-moving tortoise teaches the fast-moving hare that slow and steady can still win a race.

Perhaps you can think of a fable in which the turtle teaches the coot a lesson, or perhaps the coot will be the teacher.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Hiking Hollywood http://tinyurl.com/ak7nlmk I chose this blog today because I wanted to take an armchair hike, and because it was not typical of what we think of when we think of Hollywood. “Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age sex, color, class or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful.” – Margaret Mead

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The Tao of Willie

Posted in Books, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , , on February 4, 2013| 12 Comments »

Would you have recognized this photo as being Willie Nelson? I didn't. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Would you have recognized this photo as being Willie Nelson? I didn’t. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I believe in the strength found in being yourself, and don’t give an elephant’s ass about trying to fit in or be normal. There is no normal. There’s only you and me.” – Willie Nelsol
An Unrecognizable Photograph
When I was in Nashville this past fall, I took a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. At one point in the walk-through, the guide stopped at one of the 18 or so dressing rooms and asked if we knew the identity of one of the photos on the wall.

I’m ashamed to say I didn’t, even though it was the photo of one of my favorite musicians.

It was Willie Nelson, whom I spent reading all about yesterday in a little book called “The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in your Heart.” I had picked the book up at the Opry’s gift shop but just now got around to reading it.

The Familiar Willie on the cove of his book written with Turk Pipkin.

The familiar Willie on the cover of his book written with Turk Pipkin.

In the book, Willie talks about a time when he tried to fit in. I’m sure that’s the time when that dressing-room photo was taken because he hasn’t looked that way in years and years.  The book is full of Willie’s wisdom gained over a lifetime, and some funny jokes some of which had me rolling on the floor. Here are a few of my favorite Willie quotes:

“We’re all angels flying too close to the ground.”

 “Above all other things I believe in the universal truth of the Golden Rule.”

 “It’s true. My heroes have always been cowboys …the cowboy way believes that if you do things according to that sense of right, it’ll work out to everyone’s advantage.”

And then these words from Willie that I especially like:

“At the beginning of this book, I wrote that if you love me you are my friend … but there are also exceptions. If you throw trash along the highways or foul our rivers, I’m sorry to say you are not my friend …  If you think that people whose skin is a different color from yours are beneath you, you are particularly not my friend …  And if you mistreat those who are smaller or weaker than you, you are not my friend.”

Machu Picchu. -- Wikipedia photo

Machu Picchu. — Wikipedia photo

Bean’s Pat: Amazing Places to See http://tinyurl.com/an3w7yv Machu Picchu. My arm-chair traveling blog for the day. What an amazing place. Perhaps one day I’ll see it in person. If you have, tell me all about it

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I Hunger for a Kinder World

Posted in Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , on January 31, 2013| 5 Comments »

            “Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.” —  Joseph Addison

This photo calms my soul. I needed it today. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This photo calms my soul. I needed it today. — Photo by Pat Bean

Too Bad We Do Not Learn From History

            I’m reading May Sarton’s “House by the Sea,” a journal of a year she spent in Maine with a view of the ocean in the 1970s. In it she talks about the landscape, gardening, writing and simply her thoughts, which include those on how cruel the world has become.

I needed a bit of beauty, too. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I needed a bit of beauty, too. — Photo by Pat Bean

Being of an age, like me, these thoughts included the Vietnam era, and the Mai Lai massacre. If she were writing today, she would, I am sure, have mentioned how history repeated itself with the torture of Iraqi prisoners and all the other horrible events as the world continues too much in the butt-ugly ways of war.            What she might have missed, however, is the butt-ugliness of jokes being played on people for the benefit of the TV viewing audience these days. I watched my grandsons laugh at one of these cruel pranks the other day, one in which I found absolutely nothing amusing. The goal of the hoax was nothing but humiliation of the victim.

How different is this from the bullying that is allowed to go on in schools to the point that victims have committed suicide?

And then two days ago, I picked up the young adult book, “The Hunger Games.” It was a gripping piece of writing that I admit I couldn’t put down. But when I finished it, I had a very bad taste in my soul. For one thing, a book that is all about children killing other children should never be labeled a kids’ book; and for another, the sheepish way in which the fictional population so callously allowed this to happen, even going so far as to bet on the outcome.

I kept waiting for someone to do something. Hopefully the sequels answer this wish, although I’m not sure I will read them to find out. My soul can only stand so much brutality.

The book put me in the mind of the Holocaust, when all that was needed for evil to triumph was for the good to turn their backs and do nothing.

The Pollyanna in me believes, no KNOWS, that the good people in this world outnumber the bad. So when are we going to stand up and holler enough is enough? A good place to start is simply for adults to tell children that there is nothing funny in cruel jokes. You can bet on my grandchildren hearing this from me.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Words of Wisdom http://tinyurl.com/a4s78pp This just seemed like an appropriate blog to accompany today’s soap-box rant.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , on January 12, 2013| 4 Comments »

“The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experiences of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.”  — Moses Hadas

A Tree — and Just a Few of my Many Favorite Books

Simply a tree that grows in the front yard of my son, Lewis, who lies on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Simply a tree that grows in the front yard of my son, Lewis, who lives on the Texas Gulf Coast.

The Farseer Trilogies  by Robin Hobb

Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer

Road Fever by Tim Cahill

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Arrows of the Queen and all the rest of the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey

The Deep Blue Good-Bye and the 20 other Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald

Anything by Agatha Christie

And Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

Now, please share some of your favorite books.

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2012 in review

Posted in Books, Dogs, Journeys, Travel, Writing, tagged , on December 31, 2012| 8 Comments »

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” — Abraham Lincoln.

Happy New Year Everyone

I just want to say a big “Thank You” to my readers.  I’ve taken a break from blogging since Christmas as I have been making a big lifestyle change, one that will  be reflected, I’m sure, in the blogs I will post in 2013.

Pepper and I wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is Pepper the day I rescued her. She's a bit bigger today.

Pepper and I wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is Pepper the day I rescued her. She’s a bit bigger today.

Meanwhile, since this is New Year’s Eve, here are my resolutions for this blog in the coming year.Post five times a week. This is part of another resolution to not touch a computer one day a week. The other missing day is to get out in Mother Nature’s realm so I can continue telling you about her wonders.

Tell readers at least once a week about a book I’m enjoying reading.

Finish writing “Travels with Maggie,” so I can go on to a new writing project that I can share with you.

Keep you updated on Pepper, the lively Scottie-mix canine that I’ve lived with for the past eight months who has stolen my heart.

Continue providing a link to another daily blog that I’ve enjoyed,

I also commit to responding to everyone who makes a comment on my blog, and hope that in the coming year I will get to know many of you better.

Thanks to all of you for making this a great blogging year for me. Now here’s what WordPress had to say about Pat Bean’s Blog.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 48,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 11 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

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Passing the Buck

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , on December 19, 2012| 8 Comments »

A Word from the Cat in the Hat

inspiration-quote-quote-of-the-day

I’m in the middle of  a lifestyle transition, have four books to read by January for a contest I’m judging, blogging three times a week for American Profile magazine,  getting ready for Christmas, enjoying my youngest daughter and her family, preparing to move into an apartment for which I need furniture, and am trying to cope with a dog that has decided a grandson’s room is a nice place to poop.

Pepper’s done the dirty deed twice, but  I think it’s been because I haven’t been up to our normal long walks. The physical therapist I visited Monday said it was a hip impingement.

I’m getting physical therapy and doing exercises for the leg so hopefully things will be back to normal soon. In the meantime, Pepper and I have been taking a lot of short walks to solve the problem.  I sure hope so because my new apartment is a third-story walk-up.

So, for the remainder of the year, I’m going to rely on some of my favorite people to help me out. Today it’s Dr. Seuss, whose advice I’ve enjoyed for a long, long time. Here are three of my favorite Seuss quotes.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the readers who reads.”

“Today you are you, that’s truer than true.  There’s no one alive who is youer than you.”

Book Report: We’re not going to say any more about this until Jan. 1, 2013.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Transplanted Tatar http://tinyurl.com/ayyyn4r A Glimpse of Paradise, or more specifically, the landscape that has claimed a piece of my soul.

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