Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Journeys’ Category

Good-Bye Tucson

Posted in Journeys, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , on April 12, 2012| 9 Comments »

Folks, we have reached our cruising altitude now, so I am going to switch the seat belt sign off. Feel free to move about as you wish, but please stay inside the plane till we land. It’s a bit cold outside and if you walk on the wings it affects the flight pattern.” – This is the Captain speaking.

 

I saw blooming cacti everywhere I looked in Tucson. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 

Hello Austin

I take to the air this afternoon, flying to Austin to attend the Women’s Circle Network Stories from the Heart writing conference.

I’ve been looking forward to this event for months. I will be meeting up with some of the women I met at the event two years ago, and will also be meeting face to face with many women who have become dear friends via the Internet since then.

I will be sorry, however, to leave this beautiful Arizona desert where my daughter, Trish, lives. During my three-week visit here, we have both done some healing. Trish from some physical ailments and me from the emotional stress of losing my beloved dog, Maggie, and then her replacement just eight days later.

I’m finally to the point of thinking again about getting another dog. I will be getting back on the road in my RV shortly after the conference ends, and the thought of traveling without a canine companion is mind boggling.

And each variety of cactus I saw had its own unique beauty. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Just in case anyone in the Austin or the Dallas areas of Texas might know of a dog that needs a lot of love and spoiling, I’m looking for a one to three–old, 20 to 25 pound, female that loves walks, cuddling and car rides.

Bean’s Pat: Life in the Bogs http://tinyurl.com/6lw7u9hAn armchair trip through Amish Country, and great flowers, too

Read Full Post »

Favorite Places: Mountain Passes

Posted in Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , on April 9, 2012| 13 Comments »

“Before computers, telephone lines and television connect us, we all share the same air, the same oceans, the same mountains and rivers. We are all equally responsible for protecting them.” Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Togwotee Pass, Montana

One of the best things about Highway 26 between Dubois and Moran Junction, Wyoming, is the awesome view of the Grand Tetons from the top of Togwotee Pass.

Bean’s Pat: Laughing Housewife http://tinyurl.com/7wc8h68  While death is not a laughing matter,  I’m with the Laughing Housewife on this one.  Love and laugh with me today, and when I’m gone continue to love and laugh.

 

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Journey

Posted in Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , , , , on April 7, 2012| 3 Comments »

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” Don Williams 

Oregon’s Highway 395

My kind of journey is one in which I travel slowly and has many twists and turns and surprises around every curve in the road. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Sunshine Blogger Award

Just Words   kzackuslheureux. wordpress.com  awarded me a Sunshine Blogger Award. It’s always nice to think that I’ve brought sunshine into someone’s day, so thank you very much. I’m using my Bean’s Pat to pay back the honor on a daily basis.

Bean’s Pat: Write to Done http://tinyurl.com/89wxokt  One’s writing is something that can always be improved, and this is a great blog to help you do just that. It’s also a new way to look at your “quirky” family. 

Read Full Post »

A Do Nothing Day

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged , , , , , on April 4, 2012| 6 Comments »

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        And I must follow, if I can,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say — J.R.R, Tolkien

Listening to the Planet’s Pulse

A jet paints the desert sky with its contrail. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Yesterday, if you look at it the way I tend to do, was a wasted day. Nothing on my daily to-do list, including blogging, was accomplished.

I woke up in a mood to do nothing, and nothing I did. At my age, when more of my life is behind me than ahead of me, wasted days frighten me.

But today I awoke refreshed, ready to once again try to give my life meaning. I began it with a short hike here in the fresh desert air above Tucson. As I walked I realized yesterday was not wasted. I had needed just such a day and it was time I stopped feeling guilty about taking it.

Am I contemplating this northern cardinal, or is the bird contemplating me? -- Pat Bean

Then I started truly noticing my surroundings in a different way. The saguaro cactus weren’t simply cactus; they were homes for wildlife, shade for them, too, when the desert sun-scorched the earth.

I listened to the hum of the city around me. I felt the earth beneath me beat with the sound of traffic on distant highways, and watched as a jet flew overhead, marking the sky with its contrail. There was a part of me that longed for the absolute silence I’ve heard only once in my life.

That occurred in Utah’s Escalante wilderness when a photographer and I drove the Burr Trail for a newspaper story we were writing and photographing. I was amazed how still the earth had been back then, realizing how noisy a simple refrigerator’s hum could be.

But this day, I also enjoyed the feeling of being a part of the pulsing world from which I had tried to escape yesterday. What a difference a day makes.

Bean’s Pat: To Write is to Write http://tinyurl.com/72lmlwy This is a blog I could have written with only minor changes. It made me laugh. I chose it two days ago, and now I wonder if it influenced my yesterday. P.S. Thanks Jim http://notyethere.wordpress.com/  for sending me Tolkien’s quote.

Read Full Post »

My Kaleidoscopic Life

Posted in Journeys, tagged , , , , , on March 30, 2012| 11 Comments »

“If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead.” – Gelett Burgess

Royal terns and laughing gulls are common sights on the Texas Gulf Coast. -- Photo by Pat Bean

New Landscape, New Thoughts

My morning walks around here in the desert above Tucson the past few days have been exotic ones, full of new plants, new birds, new views and conversely new thoughts.

And the ocotillo cactus is in bloom in Arizona. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I love the variety my life is currently offering, although there was nothing wrong with waking up every morning  to a view of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, which I did for 25 years, either. And one of these days, I know, I will once again have time to intimately get to know one particular landscape.

 It’s not that one lifestyle is better than the other, just that they’re different. Actually that can be said about all lifestyles, as long as they do no harm to others or to this beautiful planet we live on.   

Meanwhile, my current wandering/wondering life as a full-time RV-er is continually full of new sights and things to do.

When visiting my Texas Gulf Coast son, I have a beach to walk and a plethora of shorebirds to watch. Here in Arizona, where my youngest daughter recently moved, I have a desert landscape, particularly beautiful in the spring, and a whole different set of birds.

On this morning’s walk, I saw a pyrrhuloxia and a phainopepia, rare sights except in southeast Arizonia, plus doves, lots of Gambell’s quail, a raven, a black phoebe, a large flycatcher (not sure which one) and a curved-bill thrasher. While none were birds not on my life list, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen most of these species.

A visit to my oldest daughter in Dallas offers opportunities to take in a play and to watch northern cardinals hanging out in her backyard trees.

In Chicago, where I recently visited my youngest son, I got to take in an art museum and had a marvelous nighttime view of the city lights and Lake Michigan from the top of the Hancock Tower.

A visit to a granddaughter in San Antonio opens up an opportunity for me to take in this city’s fantastic river walk; In Austin, where another granddaughter lives, I get to play with a great-grandson and visit writer friends.

An hour north of Austin, where my oldest son lives, my daughter-in-law always makes the best cabbage, hamburger and rice meal for me that I’ve ever tasted. It’s one of my favorite dishes and I’ve never been able to duplicate her recipe. Sighting deer on my walks here is also a daily happening.

I’ve begun thinking about settling down, but in the eight years I’ve been on the road, no place has shouted loud enough to hold me. I’m beginning to look and listen a bit harder, however.

Meanwhile I’m just going to keep enjoying the ever-changing scenery that is my current life.

Bean’s Pat: Stopping the Wind http://tinyurl.com/772hswd Good advice for all of us, regardless of what age you are.

Read Full Post »

Morning Surprise

Posted in African Safari, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on March 28, 2012| 20 Comments »

 “There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.” – G.K. Chesterton

This hot air balloon soaring over my daughter's horse corral was a delightful surprise for my morning. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Up, Up and Away

A common sight for my daughter's family was a rare delight for me. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Shortly after the sun came up this morning, I beheld a wondrous, rare sight. Well, at least for me. It’s one that my daughter’s family sees most mornings from their desert landscaped home that looks down on Tucson.

Soaring above their horse corral was a hot air balloon, low enough for me to hear the whoosh of the flames as they roared their hot air upward into the balloon to keep it aloft. I could also hear the low murmurs of its passengers as they looked down on the sights beneath them. I waved.

Of course I wished I were up there with them, floating along at the pace of the wind.

I’ve been in hot air balloons twice, once over the desert near Las Vegas, and once over Africa’s Serengeti. The joy of floating above the earth and observing it from the advantage of height flooded my memories.

What a fantastic way to start my day.

Bean’s Pat: LavendarDragonfly http://tinyurl.com/6tachfh This blogger would have loved my morning. May we all have such eyes to see the tiny miracles of life around us.

Read Full Post »

Roadside Stop on Arizona’s Highway 79

Posted in Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 26, 2012| 7 Comments »

Tom Mix Memorial -- Photo by Pat Bean

“I always remember an epitaph which is in the cemetery at Tombstone, Arizona. It says: ‘Here lies Jack Williams. He done his damnedest.’ I think that is the greatest epitaph a man can have.” – Harry S. Truman

Cowboy Memorial

While driving a lonely stretch of Highway 79 in Arizona awhile back, I came upon this Tom Mix Memorial. Mix, just for all you youngsters out there who may never have heard the name, made over 325 movies between 1910 and 1935. All but nine of them silent films.

While this cowboy was a bit before even my time, I did see a few of his last movies when they played as Saturday matinees at the Lisbon Theater in Dallas. Looking at the memorial I could almost smell the popcorn and feel the rough-cushion of the seats in that old theater.

Landscape near where Tom Mix crashed his vehicle and died of a broken neck in 1940. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I wonder if it’s still there, on Lancaster Avenue in South Oak Cliff. I couldn’t find it on the Internet, but I did come across a site for Lisbon Elementary, which I attended in the first grade.

Mix died in 1940, very near this memorial, which it was evident had seen better days.

Traveling is a two-part journey. First there’s the joy of seeing new sights and learning new things, and then comes the connections that take one back to other times and other places.

It takes both things to satisfy my wanderlust.

Bean’s Pat: Things I love http://tinyurl.com/87gobqe I have Portuguese in my genes, but I would love this blog even if I didn’t.

Read Full Post »

Lightning Finds Me Twice

Posted in Journeys, Travel, Wildflowers, tagged , , , , , , on March 18, 2012| 24 Comments »

 “To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go.” Mary Oliver

Princess Meghan Joined Maggie in the Clouds

This well may be the hardest blog I’ve ever written. But it’s part of my travel journey and I know I must share it for continuity in my blogging. One of these days I’ll write the whole story, but the wound is still too fresh for complete details.

 

Wisteria and tiny pink ground flowers as seen through my RV window. -- Photo by Pat Bean

After losing my long-time canine travel companion, Maggie, and adopting Princess Meghan, a tiny, energetic beagle as her replacement, I lost her also.

In a space of eight days, I stood beside two beloved pets as they were humanely euthanized. A freak accident left Meghan paralyzed and I felt I had no choice.

My body shut down for four days and only today is it beginning to revive itself. I mostly stayed alone in my RV with the shades drawn. The shades are up today, and I’m once again open to the outside world.

A plethora of bird song is humming through the air, and a nearby white wisteria is scenting the landscape. I’m extremely grateful to notice because my senses were so dimmed by my sorrow that I truly could not enjoy the roadside bluebonnets that accompanied me Friday on a journey from Lake Jackson to Harker Heights north of Austin.

I saw them, but felt no joy.

I was going to continue on Saturday toward Tucson, where a sick daughter wants her mother, but my body refused to go on. So I’m sitting here at my oldest son’s home for a few days. I suspect I’ll continue my journey Tuesday or Wednesday.

It will be a lonely trip, but I do believe this tough old broad will at least be able to enjoy the sights along the way. Hopefully there will be more roadside bluebonnets.

And hopefully, this blog will once again take on its upbeat travel theme. Dookie happens to everyone and getting on with life is always the best thing we can do.

 Camping With a Canine in Cornwall http://tinyurl.com/726he22 This reminded me of many of my own adventuress when I was a tent camper. And it cheered me up.

Read Full Post »

Royalty Enters My Life

Posted in Journeys, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 12, 2012| 31 Comments »

 
Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Enlarge Photo
 
Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX

Meghan

Beagle: An adoptable dog in Houston, TX

Small • Adult • Female
Email a friend Printer friendly Share on Twitter

 
This sweet little beagle girl looks like a perpetual puppy due to her small size and her cute little mannerisms. She is only 12″ tall and weighs about 17 lbs! She was brought in to a Houston-area shelter as a stray and not claimed. The shelter guessed her age at approx. 5 – 6 years, but it seems she may be younger. She tested heartworm negative, has been updated on vaccines, has had her teeth cleaned, is now spayed, microchipped and dewormed.
 
Meghan is a little princess, and wants to be your lap-doggie. She will install herself on the lap of whomever happens to be sitting down at the time. Her dream would be to sleep in the bed with the humans. She loves humans, and believes her status to be above that of the other dogs in the household. There are no cats in the foster home, but we think she might chase cats if given the opportunity; after all, she is a beagle! Her favorite activity is taking a walk on leash, and she also likes to ride in the car.

At night she will sleep quietly (but reluctantly) in a dog crate at her foster home, ever hopeful of earning a spot on the “big” bed. During the day she is allowed to be loose in the house, as she does not chew things and she gets along with the other dogs. She WILL sometimes bark at noises outside, and makes quite a racket when the humans are either leaving or coming home — for such a little thing, she does have a very loud bark! Therefore she might not be a great fit for an apartment unless the neighbors can be informed that the occasional squeals are from a protesting dog and not a banshee! (grin)

She knows how to use a doggie door, but little princess that she is, she really prefers not to go outside unless accompanied by a human friend. The ideal home for Meghan will be a quiet one where there is not a lot of activity. She would not be comfortable with young children or super active dogs. There might have been some traumatic incidents in her past that led her to worry about her safety, so she worries about being picked up quickly or being bumped by rowdy dogs. She will be a loyal and loving companion to anyone who can give her lots of love and attention. To adopt Meghan or one of our other rescued beagles, please follow the instructions on our website and complete an application to adopt. 

  Princess Meghan

She's got melt-your-heart-chocolate-brown eyes and a regalness about her that prompted me to call her Princess Meghan. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I discovered the above notice on the Internet — and immediately  knew I had found a perfect new companion for my RV travels.

 
It took filling out a  lengthy application, a  120-mile round-trip drive through a Texas-sized rain storm the next day, a sales job to convince the beagle guardians that I would treat an adopted dog humanely, and finally writing a check for $225,   but Meghan is now mine. It was an instant bonding. She crawled up in my lap as I was driving home. 
 
I stopped at the first opportunity, stacked three pillows in the co-pilot seat and put her atop it.  She was happy and alternated between looking out the window, howling at passing semis and snoozing. 
 
She met three big canine cousins without fear, made friends with Pippin (see yesterday’s blog, proving she doesn’t chase cats),  claimed a large comfy chair to snooze in while I played a game of Settlers with my son and his wife, dragged me around for a couple of walks, howled in response to the local hound’s passage,  explored my RV and immediately claimed Maggie’s favorite spots as her own, and finally curled up beside me in my bed for the night.
 
Her actions told me she was no Maggie-Too as I had planned on naming any new dog.  She’s a Princess through and through. 
 
Princess Meghan I shall call her.  Count on hearing a lot more about her in coming days.
 
  Bean’s Pat: Bobby Harrison http://tinyurl.com/869plkp   This is a great blog for bird lovers. Bobby takes great bird photos, and I especially enjoyed these shots of a purple gallinule.

Read Full Post »

Time to Move On

Posted in Journeys, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2012| 21 Comments »

“If you’re going through hell, keep going” — Winston Churchill

Maggie was the first dog I owned that always took time on our walks to stop and smell the flowers. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I guess I’m going to survive the loss of my Maggie. I was looking for a quote on grief and came across the above one by good old Sir Winnie – and I laughed.

Of course I also cried when I came across these words from an unknown author: “Without tears, the soul would have no rainbows.”

This one's for you Maggie. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’m so very thankful that I had loved ones around trying to distract me from my sorrow. I got two free lunches and learned how to use a game controller the past three days while hiding out from my blog and from working on my travel book.

 I’m also extremely thankful for my Cloud World of writing and blogging friends. While each of your heartfelt words started the tears anew, the virtual hugs that came with them helped me tremendously.

It’s the first time I’ve turned to others during a bad time in my life. My usual tactic is to run away and hide and bare my sorrow in solitude. It seemed easier that way, but I was wrong.

Even so, last night was the first time I’ve ever felt alone since I moved into my RV. So, in honor of, and meaning no disrespect to Maggie, I’ve already started looking for a new pet.

Like Maggie, it will be a dog needing rescued. My druthers are a 20-25 pound, one to two-year-old female canine that likes to be walked, wants to travel, isn’t averse to being spoiled rotten, and likes to cuddle. Chocolate brown eyes that melt your heart, as Maggie’s did mine, would be a plus.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »