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Passing the Buck

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged changing lifestyle, dogs, Dr. Seuss, pat bean, postaday 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.

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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Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged changing lifestyles, Guadalupe Mountains, Guadalupe Peak, pat bean, postaday, tuccson on December 18, 2012| 4 Comments »

Texas to Arizona

“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you’re riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your visit to reality. Wake up and live!” – Bob Marley

Changing Lifestyles – At Least Temporarily

The Guadalupe Mountains — Photo by Pat Bean

After two months of leisurely cross-country travel, which I just completed blogging about, and six weeks traveling around Texas to enjoy the company of children and grandchildren whom I hadn’t seen since April or longer, I set off to Tucson to spend Christmas with my youngest daughter and her family.

My canine traveling companion, Pepper, and I made the 950-mile trip in three days, which was way too fast for sight-seeing along the way. That’s best done by traveling only a hundred miles and then staying put for a day or more.

The first night I made it to Anson, Texas, where I hooked Gypsy Lee up for the night in a not-too-appealing RV park that was shared with a motel. It was located next to a noisy cotton mill and litter, every piece of which Pepper wanted to investigate, was plentiful on our short walks around the area.

Guadalupe Peak — Photo by PatBean

The next day, the drive was accompanied by rain, dust storms and high winds that sent tumbleweeds doing their thing across the highway. The wind had RV, Gypsy Lee, doing a rock and roll dance, even after I stopped for the day early in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Thankfully the RV park was nicer.

The next day was calm, and when Highway 180 took me back into Texas through the Guadalupe Mountains, I stopped briefly to enjoy being in the presence of Guadalupe Peak which at 8,749 feet is the highest point in Texas.

After that, I stayed in the driver’s seat, stopping only for gas until I reached Tucson, which is where Pepper and I are going to stay — at least for a while. I found a small pet-friendly, one-bedroom apartment in the Catalina Mountain foothills, which after living in a tiny RV for eight years, seems like a mansion.

But I’m keeping Gypsy Lee primed for the road for when the wanderlust hits again.

Book Report: Still in snail mode.

Bean’s Pat: Bird Light Wind http://tinyurl.com/cnevdu8 Red-shouldered hawk. Fantastic photos

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Chalk Ridge Falls

Posted in Favorite Hikes, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged chalk ridge falls, hiking, pat bean, postaday on December 14, 2012| 3 Comments »

Another hiker, the only one we saw on the hike, volunteered to take our picture.

“Collect moments, not things.” – Unknown

A Hike for the Memory Bank

When my oldest son, D.C. graduated from high school in Utah, he joined the Army, which sent him to Hawaii. Then he got married, had three kids, made the Army his career, had many tours of overseas duty, and when he was stateside, he and I never lived in the same state.

The waterfall. — Photo by Pat Bean

He finally retired, and lately we’ve finally been able to spend more than just a day or two together maybe once a year. Not only did I get to have Thanksgiving with him and his family this year, he and I found time to take a hike together. It was great easy trail, with a waterfall at the end of a loop, turtles sunning themselves on logs and a suspension bridge across a river. Mother Nature kept calling me to look at this tree or that plant.

But it will now be awhile before I see D.C. and his family again. Gypsy Lee, Pepper and I are back on the road to visit another child. When you have five kids, as I did way too many years ago, and they all scatter to the five winds, that becomes a way of life.

The turtles. When I tried to get closer they dove beneath the water. — Photo by Pat Bean

That’s why memories are important. And the photos I took of the hike will bring them back many times. I hope you don’t mind my sharing them with you. Book Report: Stuck again. It seems the closer I get to the end of Travels with Maggie, the slower I get. What’s up with this I’m asking myself.

Bean’s Pat: The Leisurely Life http://tinyurl.com/d6n8vue After the storm, birds and sunsets

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A Tennessee Warbler and a Bluebird

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged eastern bluebiird, nstchez trace state resort park, pat bean, postaday, tennessee warbler on December 8, 2012| 3 Comments »

“I know the world is filled with troubles and many injustices. But reality is as beautiful as it is ugly. I think it is just as important to sing about beautiful mornings as it is to talk about slums. I just couldn’t write anything without hope in it. – Oscar Hammerstein II

Tennessee warbler — Wikipedia photo by Jerry Oldenette

Adventures with Pepper: Day 55

Natchez Trace State Resort Park was awesome, and I would have stayed much longer than one night except I had no phone or internet service, and I had a magazine writing deadline to meet.

Eastern bluebird — Photo by Pat Bean

I didn’t rush to get off the next morning, however, because my plan was to just drive to Memphis, 120 miles away.

After much debating with myself during the night, I had decided to skip the remainder of the Natchez Trace and take the quicker shorter route home to family. The decision was partly based on my desire to hug children and grandchildren and partly on budget concerns. Gypsy Lee’s furnace was acting up and I needed to get it checked out, and I thought what I saved on the trip would cover any needed repairs.

Thankful that I had finally made the decision, I let myself enjoy a cup of coffee while I stared out at Pin Oak Lake and watched the sun come up. I’m learning that sometimes you need to just sit for a while without your hands on a keyboard or a book in your hand. It’s taken me way too many years to learn the reward of doing this, which most days is just renewed energy for a busy day ahead.

This day I had a different reward. First there was the Tennessee warbler, about 10 of them merrily pecking in the grass right outside my RV. Thankfully they stayed around long enough for me to get out my field guide and identify them as the bird was a lifer for me, meaning the first one of its species that I had identified.

It was the 703^rd bird species to go on my list, and I watched them until they decided it was time to move on.

The second reward was a colorful eastern bluebird that was using the mirror of the truck parked next to me to watch itself in the vehicle’s window. It kept turning around and around for a better look. And it was so interested in itself that I was able to slide my RV window open and get a good picture.

What a great start to my day.

Book Report: Back to working on Travels with Maggie more seriously. I’m almost back to where I decided to reread what I had already edited this second time around. I was mostly pleased with what I read, and made a format decision that should let me finish the last few chapters more quickly.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Serenity Spell http://tinyurl.com/a4gfcco Eyes of the Everglades. I love black-crowned night herons.

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Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged decisions, kudzu, Natchez Trace, pat bean, postaday, robert frost on December 6, 2012| 6 Comments »

The Road Not Taken — and Kudzu

Kudzu taking over the landscape. Photo by Pat Bean ,

“Everyone has to make their own decisions … You just have to be able to accept the consequences without complaining.” – Grace Jones

Adventures with Pepper: Day: Day 53-54

After two sight-seeing filled days in Nashville, I stayed put at Nashville RV Park for an extra day so as to catch up on my journal, my writing, and some needed rest. I spent most of that day, however, replotting my route back to Texas.

Pin Oak Lake, Natchz Trace State Resort Park, Tennessee. — Photo by Pat Bean

I had planned to drive the entire Natchez Trace but was now reconsidering. I had previously driven the lower end of the trace, and if I only spent one day on the historic old foot path, I could cut miles and days off my trip back to Texas.

Usually when I get into an argument with myself about which route to take, the longer, slower, less traveled one wins the day. But my slow, beit fantastic, drive through Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway had been tiring.

I was also eager to once again hook up with kids and grandkids that I hadn’t seen in over half a year. So this time, after a night of sleeplessly continuing to mull the decision, I didn’t take Robert Frost’s less-traveled road, but his road-not-taken instead.

It was

A bit of color could be seen through the trees, but today’s drive was mostly a green one. — Photo by Pat Bean

a slow pleasant 150-mile drive in which autumn’s fall colors had been replaced by trees buried beneath kudzu. If you’re not from the South, you might ask what is kudzu.

It’s an invasive plant that grows and spreads over the landscape like uncontrolled wild fires, beautiful but deadly to plants that it envelops in its viny arms.

I ended the day at Tennessee’s Natchez Trace State Resort Park, where I hooked Gypsy Lee up beside Pin Oak Lake, took Pepper for a long walk, then settled down with her outside to watch the sun set over the lake.

I went to be still thinking about my choice of routes because the options were still ahead of me.

Book Report: Worked on Travels with Maggie for only a half hour this morning, stopping for a dentist appointment.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Life out of the Box http://tinyurl.com/cptj25y The value of a notebook. This should give us all pause to be thankful for what we have.

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Opryland: Where Outside is Inside

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, Writing, tagged Gaylord hotels, nashville, Opryland, pat bean, postaday on December 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Looking up at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel rooms from one of the complex’s atriums. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Do not disturb signs should be written in the language of the hotel maids.” –Tim Bedore

Adventures with Pepper: Day 52 continued

One of numerous waterfalls that help create the illusion of bringing the outdoors inside. — Photo by Pat Bean

What started out in 1877 as the 600-room Opryland Hotel is today the largest non-casino hotel in this country. Numerous expansions and the big renovation after the hotel was flooded in May of 2010, along with the next door Grand Ole Opry, have inspired the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center ad men to use the words, “You won’t believe what’s under our roof,” in their promotional copy.

A tour of the hotel was the second part of this Gray Line tour, which earlier had me standing on the “Unbroken Circle” of the Grand Ole Opry stage.

Wow, I think was my surprised response as I wandered through the complex and then took the quarter-mile boat ride around the glass-roofed, landscaped-to-perfection complex.

I wondered what Opryland charges these colorful wood ducks for their space in one of the complex’s atriums. I shot this photo of the ducks during the boat ride.

Normal room rates to stay at the hotel range from $169 to $244 per night. I was curious and checked it out to see how it compared with the $34 per night cost of my stay at the Nashville Country RV Park. While it would have been fun to stay in the hotel during my Nashville stay, it wasn’t within my travel budget, nor, I suspected, would my canine traveling companion, Pepper, have been allowed to stay with me.

Book Report: Still dinking along while some of my writing colleagues are making amazing amounts of progress on their projects. But I got most of my Christmas shopping done yesterday.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: What I See is What I Shoot http://tinyurl.com/c9kgaqx Far away in the Wonderland. A quirky blog that usually fascinates me. Today you can learn how to say bicycle in Russian

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The Grand Ole Opry

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Travel, Writing, tagged country music, Grand Ole Opry, nashville, Ryman Auditorium on November 30, 2012| 3 Comments »

Me doing the tourist thing and getting my photo taken at the Grand Old Opry. This gave my kids a big laugh because I’m tone deaf and couldn’t sing on key if my life depended on it.

“Show business is made up of disappointments, and it’s through life’s disappointments that you grow.” – Minnie Pearl

Adventures with Pepper: Day 52

This was the day I did what every visitor to Nashville should do: Visit the Grand Ole Opry. And indeed it was GRAND in capital letters.

The Ryman Auditorium seats 2,362 people. — Photo by Pat Bean

I was glad, however, that yesterday’s tour included a brief one of the less impressive Ryman Auditorium, which was home to the Opry for many years and which is still its winter home.

When I had entered the Ryman, the building immediately had me thinking of its similarity to the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, where a pin dropped can be heard by everyone. Our guide followed my thoughts by noting that its acoustics were second only to the Mormon Tabernacle.

Both buildings have about them an air of history that makes one wonder what their walls would say if walls could talk.

The new home for the Grand Ole Opry seats 4,400. Photo by Pat Bean

The much larger, grander home of the Opry these days spoke to me of how this country and the Opry have changed over the years. It was like going from a log cabin to a mansion.

I couldn’t help but appreciate the conveniences, however. Change is not all bad.

And I was pleased to note – and stand on – the Opry’s “unbroken circle,” a six-foot oak circle cut from the Ryman’s stage.

“That circle is the most magical thing when you’re a performer,” said Brad Paisley, “to stand there and get to sing on those same boards that probably still contain dust from Hank Williams’ boots.”

Paisley, via the magic of video, joined us for the tour.

Book Report: I’m happy to say that while I didn’t get as much editing done of Travels with Maggie as I wanted – of course I never do – I got back to the task after a week of family festivities.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Colline’s Blog http://tinyurl.com/c2mceal This is exactly how I recharge. Mother Nature always kisses my wounds and makes everything better. How do you recharge?

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Nashville: Country Music Hall of Fame

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Travel, Writing, tagged buck owens, country western music hall of fame, minnie pearl, nashville, pat bean, postaday, stage clothing, taylor swift, willie nelson on November 28, 2012| 3 Comments »

: The day I visited the Country Western Music Hall of Fame was the anniversary of Minnie Pearl’s 100th birthday. What a treasure she was, but it was all an act. She was a sophisticated lady with a huge Nashville mansion. — Photo by Pat Bean

“You are the music while the music lasts.” – T.S. Eliot

Adventures with Pepper: Day 51 Continued

Can you picture Buck Owens wearing this … — Photo by Pat Bean

When I listen to music — which is not too often because it demands all of my focus — it’s usually country western, to the bemoaned ears of some of my more musically elite friends.

And when I have a choice, I’ll always choose to listen to Willie Nelson.

So it was that when this day’s Gray Line tour ended the day at the Country Western Music Hall of Fame, I was particularly interested in seeing if I could find evidence of his life here. I did, high on the wall of the Hall of Fame inductees.

The first country western singer who had grabbed my attention, along with a childhood crush, was Roy Rogers, and so I looked and found him up there on the wall, too.

… and Buck standing next to Taylor Swift. Can you picture it. — Photo by Pat Bean

What a contrast their gray-toned plaques made with the huge colorful display of Taylor Swift that was currently on exhibit at the Western Music Hall of Fame. Since male country western singer inductees outnumber women by almost ten to one, it was interesting to see the new face of country music.

Our tour guide let us have about an hour to wander through the country western museum. Among the highlights that attracted my attention were the flashy clothing worn by country western singers.

The stage costumes made me wonder what a picture Buck Owens and Taylor Swift would have made sharing the stage.

Book Report:I hang my head in shame. But I’ve cleared the decks today for some serious work on Travels with Maggie.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: The Literary Man http://tinyurl.com/cxeqtvd Still painting. An inspiration for all of us young-at-heart oldsters.

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Nashville, Tennessee

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Travel, Writing, tagged big cities, Ghost Ballet, nashville, Nashville sculptures, pat bean, postaday on November 26, 2012| 6 Comments »

“The one thing that all great cities have in common is that they are all different.” Cate Blanchard

Nashville cityscape. I snapped this picture out the window of the bus, as I did the others shown here. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I love cities.” Danny Boyle

Adventures with Pepper: Days 51

It’s called “Ghost Ballet” and sits by the Tennessee River. One interpretation is that it is two ends of a bridge. our tour guide wasn’t impressed. I saw roller coaster rails. What do you see? — Photo by Pat Bean

The Gray Lines bus driver-guide was full of facts but lacked the twitch of humor I’ve experienced on other tours. The city of Nashville, however, made up for the oversight.

I loved the jumble of color down this narrow street. — Photo by Pat Bean

From the red disjointed bridge “Ghost Ballet” sculpture to the Parthenon replica and the shiny city scape to the vivid colors of Fleet Street, the city fascinated me.

Besides music, Nashville is also a mecca for the publishing industry. Along with all my sight-seeing, my visit was an opportunity for me to personally meet my American Profile magazine editor. I blog for the magazine’s Discovering America online presence every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at http://blogs.americanprofile.com/

I don’t do big cities often, preferring to base my travels around the wonders of Mother Nature, but they’re the perfect contrast to keep my travels interesting.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Book Report: Thanksgiving and lots of family visiting from Florida, including an 11-month old great-grandson and other visiting children and grandchildren. Need I say more.

Bean’s Pat: Ummmm, really http://tinyurl.com/cm498pd Retirement, the New Freedom or Rock and Roll and Geritol? This one’s for those of us who have more days behind us than ahead of us. It made me laugh.

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In Bed with McGee and a Musical Night

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Travel, Writing, tagged books, John D. MacDonald, nashville, nashville country rv park, postaday, travis mcgee on November 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

Adventures with Pepper: Day 49-50

I finally maneuvered through Nashville’s big-city traffic, which I hit at rush hour, and made my way to the Nashville Country RV Park in the outskirt city of Millersville.

Reminders that Nashville was a musical city abounded. — Photo by Pat Bean

I had just enough energy to hook up and take Pepper for a walk around the dog-friendly park before fixing myself some comfort food — a can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and diced green chilies and a generous portion of sour cream – before collapsing with an audible Travis McGee book, “Nightmare in Pink.”

I had decided to reread these John D. MacDonald books that began in 1964 with “The Deep Blue Goodbye,” but this time listening to them in the audible.com unabridged versions that had only recently been released.

I was enjoying them as much this second-time around, and despite how tired I had been, I stayed awake until 2 a.m. and the end of the book. Pepper, as usual, woke me at 6 a.m. with chin kisses begging for her morning walk.

Afterwards, I gave her a pork-twist bone and crawled back in bed until eight o’clock. A little later, I strolled down to the office to see if there were any tours of Nashville that I could take.

While pumpkin and mum displays reminded everyone that it was fall. — Photo by Pat Bean

There were, and even better was the fact that a Gray Line’s shuttle would pick me up at the park for them. I signed up for a half-day tour the next day, and another half-day tour the day after.

There were full-day options, but I hadn’t wanted to leave Pepper alone that long.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and taking frequent short walks with Pepper, who found several canine companions along the way who would play with her. As I said, it was a dog friendly park.

That night, I attended the park’s dinner and music outdoor program. It was Nashville after all.

Book Report: On the road today so as to have Thanksgiving with my son, D.C. Hopefully I’ll get in my hour of writing later this afternoon. I had to do my blog for American Profile Magazine earlier this morning. It’s on Wall Drug. You can check it out at: http://blogs.americanprofile.com/