“I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells.” — Dr Seuss
Aging My Way
It’s been a month since you’ve posted a blog.
I’ve had company and then I was sickwith the crud. Not covid because I took the test.
You found time to watch TV, listen to audible and spend endless hours scrolling on the computer.
Well, I have to admit that the scrolling was mostly a big waste of time … although I did figure out that those bumps on my right foot are what’s called ganglion cysts, and most importantly that they are harmless.
So why didn’t you stop scrolling?
I kept telling myself I should, but I just couldn’t seem to do so — maybe because scrolling doesn’t require brain power and my brain seemed to be turned off.
And exactly what is wrong with your brain?
It needed a vacation.
Is the vacation over?
Maybe … Hey! Want to see the latest photo of my canine companion Scamp. My friend Jean took it while he was sitting on my lap.
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.
“Joy is not in things; it is in us.” – Richard Wagner
Aging My Way
If ever there was a time to have joy in my life, it is now. For one thing, I’m an old broad who raised five children without disposable diapers. And since, as a retired newspaper journalist, I can’t find any joy in reading the news, I’m looking for it elsewhere.
The magic is that I don’t have to leave home to find it.
Take for instance just the past five days when I started keeping a joy journal.
Monday: Joy was waking up at dawn and watching an Anna’s hummingbird at my nectar feeder and listening to sparrows and finches twittering their own joy for a new day.
Tuesday: Joy was grinding some coffee beans from Kenya, a gift from my guardian angel daughter in law, and then enjoying a freshly brewed cup of coffee with a good book in my hand and my canine companion Scamp beside me.
Wednesday: Joy was having a good friend stop by for a happy hour, and the good cheer and laughter that came with the visit.
Thursday: Joy was the faithful daily call from a son and our conversation this day about a TV program we’re both watching and who won the daily game of Wordle.
Friday: Joy was a call from a long-time friend to discuss our upcoming road trip, my first since my heart attack a year and a half ago. And thinking about it after we hung up, my mind began singing Willie Nelson’s On The Road Again. At heart, I’m a wanderer.
I know these are simple, small things. But then the years have taught me that’s where joy is usually found.
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.
Scamp weighs 40 pounds, but he thinks he’s a lap dog. Here he is on my granddaughter’s lap. But when no one else is around he’s sharing my chair — or lap.
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” – Robert Byrne
Aging My Way
As I was lying in bed, wide awake at 6 a.m. this morning, I realized there was not a dang thing that I really had to do when I got up – well, except household chores and there was no urgency in doing them.
I was pondering this when a body moved next to me. A minute or so later, a paw appeared on my chest, followed by a sweet kiss on the cheek. It was my canine companion Scamp’s way of telling me he was ready for his morning walk.
I’ve actually come to be grateful for this, even though it often happens while I’m still in the hands of the sandman. Taking care of Scamp, who refuses to do his business inside our small yard, gives me a purpose for getting up out of bed, getting dressed and getting moving.
I get a bit of exercise and usually some chit chat with one or two of my neighbors, usually also out walking their dogs. The other dogs greet Scamp in doggie ways that include a lot of butt sniffing and playful antics that end with their leashes tangled up.
We two dog owners laugh (the grouchy ones don’t approach anyone) and one of us untangles them.
I can’t think of a better way to start a day, especially for this 86-year old-broad who needs a purpose in her life.
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
Scamp: What do you mean we can’t go for a walk at sunrise?
Aging My Way
“Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternative.” —Maurice Chevalier
I’ve always been a morning person, but things are changing. Instead of popping up out of bed bright and cheery and ready to tackle the world as I have done almost all my life, I stumble out of bed with a stiff achy body of an 85-year-old. Perhaps that is because I am 85 (86 in just a couple of weeks) and have the arthritis to prove it.
It takes a while for my body to warm up for the day ahead, something I keep trying to tell my canine companion Scamp, who is ready for a walk as soon as the sun creeps into our bedroom.
I’ve told him that I’m an old broad and suggested that all he needed the first thing in the morning was a quick pee, and that I would take him for a longer walk a little later, like 10 a.m.
He readily agreed to the quick pee, but still grumbles a bit about waiting until 10, preferring a nice long 9 a.m. walk. So, I compromised. We now usually get out for that good walk around 9:30 a.m., which gives my body time to slowly enjoy a bowl of oatmeal, which is good for my cholesterol, and two cups of coffee, which is good for my heart.
You think about these things when you’re 85.
And if you’re lucky, you’ll have a companion like my Scamp to talk it over with.
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. She also believes one is never too old to chase a dream.
Scamp is the one with his head on the pillow. Sharing the bed with him is his best friend Dusty, whom I babysit while her owner is at work. Yup! You’ve noticed. They are pampered pets. — Photo by Pat Bean
Aging My Way
I came across a story recently claiming pizza crusts were why you should have a dog. The thought made me laugh – and then I began to think about other reasons to have a four-legged, wagging-tail pet.
Fool-proof exercise: My current canine companion is Scamp, whom I rescued from a shelter when he was about six months old – and quickly discovered he wasn’t house trained. The task of training him not to pee or poop in the house took three miserable weeks of walking him, almost every hour, from a third-floor walkup. I may have trained him too well, however. He now demands to go outside of the fenced yard of my current abode to do his bathroom business. The silver lining is that by being forced to walk him, I always get at least some daily exercise as recommended by my cardiologist.
Less food waste: I never bought into the idea of feeding my dogs only regular dog food. Food is food. And while I’ve been careful not to feed my dogs items that are bad for them, their regular dog food is often mixed with leftovers.
As an alarm system: No stranger can be outside the perimeter of my fence without Scamp alerting me, night or day. He’s not a barker, but he gives a quick woof and stands at attention staring outside until any intruder either walks on by or enters the gate and announces themselves. My former dogs were even more protective.
Companionship: Most important of all. Mine has been a one-human home for over half my 85 years, during which time Scamp has been my fourth canine companion since 1983. Owning a faithful pet, as all mine have been, makes it very hard to be lonely.
Scamp, and the memories of past canine companions, do bring a smile on my face. Besides, what else could I have done with that mountain of pizza crusts they’ve eaten.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, staff writer for the Story Circle Network Journal, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited). She is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
“Some of my much older friends have 10 doctors or more, like an overeducated friend community. I have only six so far. But time lurches on, and the reality is that, before too long, I will have 10 as well. Until then, the point of life is gratitude, modest miseries aside. And gratitude is joy. – Anne Lamott, from a recent Washington Post essay/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/01/joy-age-life-lamott/
Aging My Way
I became a big fan of Lamott after reading her book, Bird by Bird – many years ago. I guess you could say she and I are of an age, even though my doctor collection so far is only four: primary, cardiologist, pain and orthopedic. But I do have a new knee and three heart stents, which has my friends referring to me as the Bionic Woman.
It’s just too bad I don’t have the implied powers that go with the title. This hare, who for most of her life raced through life, always afraid of missing out on something, has turned into a tortoise.
It’s actually not a bad pace. I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of having more time for reflection of this beautiful, albeit crazy and at time sordid, world. I have more time to read, piddle with my art, write and connect with the meaningful people in my life. And I still wake each morning with zest for what a new day will bring, and thankful for my canine companion Scamp, whose morning walks grease my achy joints for the day ahead.
I’m glad I was a hare, but now I’m just as happy being the tortoise.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, staff writer for the Story Circle Network Journal, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
My first meeting with Scamp. Photo by Kim Perrin, who drove 700-miles roundtrip to bring him to me.
Each day, a page of photo memories drops into my email. The one that dropped today shows my first meeting with my canine companion Scamp. I first named him Harley, but quickly changed it to Scamp – because that is what he truly is.
According to the Ogden, Utah, shelter from where he was adopted, he was eight months old and a schnauzer-mix. He weighed 17 pounds, most of which was a tangled mass of matted hair. While he showed no sign of physical abuse, he had clearly been neglected – and was desperate to attach himself to someone. And I was the willing sole who had made a 1,000-mile roundtrip to become just that.
It’s a good thing I didn’t know how much trouble he was going to be in the coming weeks.
He peed in the house, tore up 13 rolls of toilet paper he managed to get off the holder, destroyed half a dozen of my writing pens, some of which left permanent ink on my carpet, and chewed up my dining room table and chairs.
If I hadn’t fallen in love with him the second that he first jumped on my lap, he would have quickly gone back to the shelter.
Thankfully, by walking him every hour or so, I had him house trained in three weeks, and slowly he began to learn what toys were his and what were mine. Today, he’s never far from my side, or my lap if he can manage it. I do have one large chair that he and I both fit into.
Even so, it’s not easy as he turned out not to be a 25-pound schnauzer-mix but a 45-pound Siberian husky-shih tzu-mix.
My granddaughter Shanna says he landed with his butt in the butter. I think he and I both did.
Anyway, talk about a picture being worth a thousand words, the one above surely is. And the one below is of Scamp today.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
In 2014, I bought this red car and named her Cayenne. She is not as shiny today, but driving her this morning felt empowering. Pepper, whom I’m holding, spent the last eight months with me during my RVing days before going to doggie heaven a few years after I moved to Tucson.
Aging My Way
I got behind the wheel of my car for the first time in over six weeks this morning. It was just a short drive, but after a knee replacement and three stents put into my heart, it was extremely empowering.
While most people I know, find driving, especially in rush-hour conditions, annoying and frustrating, the activity has long been my happy place. I think it began back in 1967 when I bought a 1963 red VW Bug shortly after I went to work for a small local newspaper.
At first, I used it just to get back and forth to work, but then I was promoted from dark-room flunky to reporter, a life-changing milestone that begin my 37-year journalism career.
Over the next four years, I drove that Bug over 100,000 miles to get to and from assignments all over Texas Gulf Coast’s Brazoria County. With five children at home, a lazy husband, and a demanding editor to please, driving in that car was the only alone time I had. Enclosed and sitting behind its wheel, I felt serene and at peace, about the only time I did during that period of my life.
This is a 1963 VW Bug, like the one I put 100,000 miles on between 1967-71. Amazingly you can still find them on the road.
When I moved to Northern Utah, I drove between there and Texas to visit family often, heady with each opportunity to find a different route for the journey. And when I finally retired, I spent nine years driving a small RV, with just a canine companion, all over America. I loved every moment of the 150,000 miles I drove exploring this awesome country. I found beauty everywhere I looked.
At 85, and with poor vision in the dark, I gave up night driving several years back. And I know there is going to come a time when I will have to relinquish my car keys because of my age. But thankfully, that time hasn’t arrived yet.
Oh, and by the way, I paid $600 for that Bug I called Chigger – and sold it for $900 four years later. It’s the best bargain I’ve ever experienced.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
At 17 pounds, Scamp fit nicely on my lap, which he promptly adopted when we first met. I was eager to have a dog after losing a beloved one, and he, a skinny, matted dog eager to escape shelter life was ready to adopt his forever person. — Photo by my friend Kim Perrin, whose chickens he chased.
Aging My Way
My canine companion Scamp is the most challenging dog I’ve ever owned. For one thing, the shelter advertised him as an eight-month old, 17-pound, female schnauzer mix.
I instantly fell in love with the photo that went with the Facebook ad and from that point forward, there was no turning back — even though he turned out to be a male dog, one of which I said I would never own. Things went downhill from there, beginning with the fact he wasn’t house-trained, loved destroying toilet paper, and chewing on the legs of my dining room table and chairs.
Thankfully those problems got solved pretty quickly. He now has chew toys and he knows which things are his.
But while I was expecting an eventual 20-25-pound dog, he continued growing. A DNA test showed he had no schnauzer in him, but was 50 percent Siberian husky and 37 percent shih tzu.
shih tzu legs on a stout husky body. When he roughhouses with another dog, which he loves to do, he often limps around the house for a day or two.
In addition, he usually brings home a bad report card from the groomers. He simply doesn’t like to be out of my sight.
Last year, when I suffered a serious bout of leg nerve pain, I was forced to abandon my third-floor apartment and move to a ground floor unit. I chose an apartment in a small complex that had its own small, fenced patio yard.
The idea was that Scamp would use the yard to do his business so I wouldn’t have to walk him. I guess I house-trained him too well because no way will he pee or poop inside the fence. And to prove it, he went two whole days without doing his business, at which point I conceded the battle.
My granddaughter says he’s as stubborn as I am.
On the plus side, I think I needed a challenging dog to make my life more interesting. And Scamp’s the most lovable, cuddly dog I’ve ever owned. Although he weighs 45 pounds, he thinks he is a lap dog and finds a way to prove it.
He is also an excellent traveler and a good guest.
Well, unless the person I’ve visiting has chickens, which my good friend Kim has. Three of them. At the first opportunity, Scamp broke through a fence to get to them and a wild chase ensued, with feathers flying everywhere.
Thankfully, Scamp never latched onto anything but those feathers, and the chickens all survived, although one hid beneath a pile of wood to escape Scamp and Kim couldn’t find her for an hour.
I can’t wait to discover what he will be up to next. OK, maybe I can wait.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
Cumbres Pass on an autumn day. — Photo by Pat Bean
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” — Douglas Adams
Aging My Way
Some of my best travel moments have been the result of a wrong turn. One example is the day I did just that in Chama, New Mexico. By the time this directionless-nitwit figured it out, I was driving through a scenic landscape that kept me going forward with no intention of turning back.
Facebook, with its post and photos from the past, brought back all the good memories of that 2009 day, which had me driving through the 10,000-foot Cumbres Pass in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. It was a colorful autumn day, traffic was almost non-existent, and my then canine companion Maggie and I took a walk and breathed it all in.
Of course, I was driving and living in a small RV at that time, and had no daily deadline to meet.
In a way, that’s kind of how I’m still living my life in retirement — although without an RV. And by the way, I cuss out myself often for selling it, especially since a recent road trip had me realizing how much I loved traveling.
But the bonus of that trip was I came home energized, ready to get this arthritic old body out into the world more, something I was actually still doing until Covid hit and isolation and staying home became a habit.
It’s time to get on the road again, even if it’s just day trips around Tucson. To misquote Dr. Seuss, I have brains in my head, shoes on my feet — and I should know where to go. Maybe I’ll even be lucky and take a wrong turn.
Pat Bean is a retired award-winning journalist who lives in Tucson with her canine companion, Scamp. She is an avid reader, an enthusiastic birder, the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited), is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.
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“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
Pat Bean is a writer, avid birder, hiker and passionate nature observer with wanderlust in her soul. She spent nine years living and traveling in a small RV. She now lives in Tucson with Scamp, a rescue who was supposed to be a Schnauzer mix but turned out to be a Siberian Husky-Shih Tzu mix who is as stubborn as his owner, her granddaughter says. She was also a journalist for 37 years, and can be reached at patbean@msn.com
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