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Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

Keep Moving – And Writing

Posted in aging, Art, Books, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , on September 25, 2024| 1 Comment »

Life is full of flowers so keep moving and enjoying them. Art by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

My fight to make my days meaningful during these latter pages of my life, which is already a long book, paused for a bit this past week. While I can fight to keep my own self moving, I had to come to grips with the fact that I can’t do it for others, no matter how much I desire to do so.

A feeling of helplessness when a loved one attempted suicide caused me to pause doing the one thing that for more than 50 years has given meaning to my life. I stopped my daily writing, including journaling. What does it matter? I thought.

To be truthful, this wasn’t the first time I had stopped writing, especially when hard times hit. But my job back then as a newspaper reporter kept me writing, if not journaling. And my busy, active, engaged with life world meant I didn’t miss, or even notice, that I had stopped any writing in my journals.

What’s different now is that at 85, my days are my own to fill. And since I can no longer dance through them playing tennis, white-water-rafting the Snake, hiking new terrain, or working at a job I love, writing has become more meaningful.

Being a writer is an honor, a title I was reluctant to even claim until I finally published a book. Now living in a world so different from the world I was born into, has filled me with stories I want my children and children’s children – and if I were honest, the world – to know.

These latter years have given me time to connect the dots of my life. And perhaps there is a person or two out there who can learn from my mistakes, or that it’s OK to follow their dreams, or to realize they are not alone in who they are or how they think.

Others’ words do that for me. Like those from Maggie Smith, whose book Keep Moving, I picked up, not for the first time, again this morning.

The title of her book says it all. Keep moving. I intend to do just that, and hope with all my heart that my loved one will do so as well.

I also intend to keep writing. Perhaps that second book that still resides within me will finally decide to come alive.    

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.

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Birding Africa

Posted in African Safari, aging, Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , on September 9, 2024| 1 Comment »

Joseph (center) stands with Kim (far right) and me (between the two) and another couple as we wait for a plane to pick us on a small grass runway serving Little Governor’s Camp in Kenya in 2007.

Aging my Way

As I continue to read Arjan Dwarshuis’ book, The (Big) Year That Flew By, I come across places where he is birding that are places I’ve also birded, notably Tanzania and Kenya, where I spent two weeks in 2007 birding their national parks.    In Tanzania, we had an awesome native guide named Bilal who was really into the big cats, as was my travel companion Kim. I feel sure, especially since Kim has told me, that I was a nuisance at times because I kept hollering stop every time I saw a bird.

But in Kenya, one of our native safari guides was Joseph, who seemed to be in as much of an awe of birds as I was. I never even had to tell him to stop because he did so whenever a bird came in sight. I remember one instance where he chased down a pelican so we could get close enough to identify its exact species.

It turned out to be a pink-backed pelican, which was a life bird for me. Joseph had been hoping it would have been a great white pelican, which would have been a life bird for him.

I mention my awesome African adventure because in Kenya, one of Arjan’s native guides was named Joseph. I can’t help but wonder if he might have been the same Joseph I birded with. While it’s a big wide world out there, when you narrow it down to avid bird enthusiasts, you’ve made it a whole lot smaller.

So, what do you think?  

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.

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Morning Bird Sounds

Posted in African Safari, aging, Birds, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing, tagged , , on September 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

While it was far from Arjan’s record-breaking number, I did see 182 bird species during my two-week safari in Kenya and Tanzania, including this Hamerkop sharing a water hole with zebra. The fantastic trip with my best friend, Kim, was also balm to my wanderlust soul. — Photo by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

“Just before sunrise, I am woken up by the deep, foghorn-like song of an Emu. What a great sound to wake up to,” writes Arjan Dwarshuis in The Big (Year) That Flew By. The book is about his quest to break the record for seeing the most bird species in a single year. He did, in 2016, counting 6,852 species. And the record still stands.

It was a journey across six continents through 40 continents. I chose to read the account of his incredible adventure because at heart I have wanderlust in my soul. I’ve also been an avid birder since 1999, the year I turned 60 and realized I needed a hobby that wasn’t quite as strenuous as white-water rafting or tennis.

Suddenly, where I had seldom seen birds, I couldn’t not see birds, which I found fascinating.

But one of my first discoveries as a birder was that it wasn’t always something done sedately. Some bird species can only be found at the tops of high mountains and some only in places where no roads exist. Thankfully I saw a few of those before my hardy adventuring days were over.

These days, I mostly bird in my own small, patio yard or on a gentle path, not necessarily paved, that can accommodate my rollator — a four-wheeled contraption that I can hold onto for balance and which also has a seat — I note this for those unfamiliar with such things.

 Some days I simply sit in it and listen to all the bird songs around me while an app called Merlin identifies the birds by sound for me. Knowing what birds are around often helps me find them with my eyes.

I also often awake to the coos of Mourning Doves, the screeches of a pair of Gila Woodpeckers that like to steal the nectar from my hummingbird feeders, and the chirp, chirp, chirping of House Sparrows – birds that visit my yard daily.

 While not as exotic as waking up to the foghorn-ish song of an Emu, listening to the sound of any bird is still a great way to wake up to. And reading about Arjan’s wondrous adventures chasing birds invigorates my wanderlust soul anytime of the day.

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.

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Foot-in-Mouth Problem

Posted in aging, Art, Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , on August 7, 2024| 3 Comments »

I wonder what this little feller is trying to say. — Art by Pat Bean

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw

Aging My Way

As a writer, one would think I would be a good communicator. After all, that’s the primary purpose of writing.  And, if I might be a bit immodest, after 60 years of doing it, I think I do it quite well.

But when it comes to the spoken word, I fail quite miserably. I’m always using the wrong word, the wrong tone, or simply the wrong connotation. And it often gets me in trouble.

My brain seems to work better with my fingers on a keyboard than they do with my vocal cords. Simply put, I have foot-in-mouth-disease. My newspaper reporter colleagues used to even joke: “It’s a good thing Pat Bean doesn’t write the way she talks.”

While they might have been talking about my Texas accent, I think it went farther than that. In my defense, I always spell people’s name correctly – well after the first time I was embarrassed in print by calling someone Mary, when she actually spelled her name Mari.

After that, asking someone to spell their name was always the first question out of my mouth. And it’s a good think I did, because I discovered there were several other variations of the simple name Mary, not to mention what parents did with other supposedly common names.

I was thinking about this after coming across a bit of trivia this morning that noted there were over 7,000 languages spoken around the world. How did this come about? It’s no wonder people in this world can’t get along. They can’t understand each other.

Meanwhile, after my latest spoken communication gaff that unintentionally left some hurt feelings, I’ve decided perhaps I should spend more time writing than talking.

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.

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The Hare and the Tortoise

Posted in aging, Art, Dogs, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , , on July 24, 2024| 3 Comments »

“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.

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Out of Whack

Posted in aging, Art, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , on July 16, 2024| 3 Comments »

“Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It’s more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.” – Dr. Seuss

While sunflowers do not make me laugh, they do make me smile. — Art by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

I took almost all of my grandkids, and I have 15, on their first roller coaster rides. I felt that was a good thing because I once read that riding roller coasters gives the brain a boost.

My first roller coaster ride was on the Texas State Fair’s Comet. It was made of wood and I can still hear the clack-clack-clack sound it made as it twisted and dived on its journey, which I always felt was way too short. So, of course I got in the line for another ride, and then another, and another.

My last roller coaster ride was on one called the Dueling Dragons at Disney World in Florida with a young grandson, and I remember it well.

That’s a good thing because roller coaster-riding is over for this 85-year-old broad. I’ll simply have to find other ways to give my little gray cells a boost.

Thankfully I can still find many things to laugh about. It’s kind of easy when you live in a world out of whack. Even so, I hope Dr. Seuss is right — in that seeing things out of whack we can find a way to put them in whack.

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.

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Friday Morning Reflections

Posted in aging, journalism, Journeys, Writing on July 12, 2024| 1 Comment »

Aging My Way

After 60 years and almost as many books, the novelist and travel writer, Paul Theroux, who is 83, says he will stop writing when he falls out of his chair. He says ordering his thoughts on paper is not a job but a process of my life. And he dismisses writers’ complaints about the hellish difficulty of being a writer as a dishonest complaint.

As I came across these words from one of my favorite authors this morning, I thought about my own life. I began writing when I was 25, which means I have also been writing for 60 years. And if I added up my 37 years of daily newspaper stories, my one published book, and over 1,500 blogs on this site, I suspect I’ve written as many words as Paul – and like him, I’m still writing — and still love doing it. 

And today’s Bean Pat goes to all out there who still love what they are doing in life. It means there were at least a few good choices made as we struggled through the years.

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.

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Super Woman Myth

Posted in aging, Art, Writing on July 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Not pleased with this quick sketch, which I titled The Grouch. It’s kind of pathetic.

“Sometimes you’re great, and sometimes you’re pathetic. Sometimes you’re tired, and sometimes you break down. It should be like that. And nothing should be glossed over.” Cher

Aging My Way

I’ve glossed over a hell of a lot in my life, and mostly that’s been a good thing. I’ve needed in the past to feel like I could handle every and anything – and mostly I did. But this year has been hard, and has required a reckoning with myself. Cher’s words have helped.

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 Story Circle Network Journal, and the author of Travels with Maggie available on Amazon (Free on Kindle Unlimited). Pat is always searching for life’s silver lining, and these days aging her way – and that’s usually not gracefully.

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I’m Taking Einstein’s Advice

Posted in aging, Art, Birds, Journeys, Writing on July 10, 2024| 3 Comments »

          “Someone just honked to get me out of my parking space faster, so now I have to sit here until both of us are dead.” – Facebook post that had be belly laughing.

Aging My Way

OK. I give up. I’ve been trying to write a blog for over two weeks now. I get a good start on one, say about 200 words, which is about half the number of words in an average blog, and then I get stuck. What I’ve written goes into the trash, or sometimes in a file to be relooked at another day.

Well, if I’m to believe Albert Einstein, who says “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it,” I need to try a different approach.

So, at least for a little while, my blog is simply going to be a sharing of my art and a quote that is meaningful to me. I also want to restart my Bean Pat feature, which is a pat on the back to something I, personally, like.

And today’s BEAN PAT is for writers and goes to Dawn Downey’s One Damn Fine Sentence blog.

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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Living in a Changing World

Posted in aging, Art, Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , on June 20, 2024| 4 Comments »

I titled this Jungle Aviary. Keeping up with today’s changing world is as hard as finding the possible birds in this charcoal drawing. Art by Pat Bean

Aging My Way

I was born in 1939, before going to the moon and beyond was hardly even a dream. It was a world in which every home didn’t have a television, computers didn’t exist — and racism was rampant.

While the N word was never spoken in my home, and my parents didn’t believe they were prejudiced, I was taught that separate but equal was the right way to live when it came to Blacks and Whites.

Observing the world, especially as a young reporter, I quickly realized how laughable that belief was. The deck was stacked against anyone but the WASPs.

Then came my acknowledgement that sexual orientation comes in more than two flavors — and I quickly saw that the world was a hard place for those who didn’t fall into one of those two categories. Sadly, my youngest brother was one of those. I don’t think he even accepted himself, and he became one of the early victims of AIDS.

I would like to think the world is an easier place for one of my own children, who came out as gay back in the early 1980s. And even easier – although rarely anyone of whatever persuasion has an easy life – for my dear granddaughter and her dear wife who live next door to me and have become my emergency caretakers.

Meanwhile, the world has changed so much that at 85, I’m having trouble keeping up. And yesterday, I committed what today has become a politically incorrect blunder.

My cardiologist’s medical assistant spoke in a heavily accented voice, and I was having problems understanding him. At one point, I asked him where he was from. “California,” he replied.

After he left, I looked at my granddaughter, who had taken me to my doctor’s appointment, and said: “I shouldn’t have asked that, should I?”

“It’s become a very diverse America, Nana,” my granddaughter replied, noting that she had just completed 40 hours of diversity training for her new job.

Gads! It’s hard keeping up with today’s world, especially at 85. But I guess if I’m going to keep on breathing, I need to keep on trying.

Be kind out there everyone!

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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