Royalty Enters My Life

March 12, 2012 by Pat Bean

 

 

Meghan

Beagle: An adoptable dog in Houston, TX

Small • Adult • Female

 

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.

Posted in Journeys, Uncategorized | Tagged beagles, dogs, Houston Beagle rescue, pat bean, postaday, rescue animals | 31 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

March 12, 2012 by Pat Bean

 “In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.” — Dereke Bruce

Pippin atop my daughter-in-law's Escape -- Photo by Pat Bean

This week’s photo challenge to demonstrate contrast naturally had me thinking of color. So this morning when I saw golden-haired Pippin sitting on top of my daughter-in-law’s black Escape, my mind went “AHA!”

I grabbed my camera and went out to take his picture, knowing that this was a cat who would pose for me. He’s that kind of cat.

Rocky sizing up what's under the Christmas tree. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I got his picture, but in the process I stepped on a bed of ants and they retaliated. Thankfully, they weren’t fire ants, but the leg that they crawled up and the hand that brushed them away stung for about half an hour.

And the pain was all for naught. When I looked at the photos, I realized they really didn’t show the contrast I wanted. .

Then I thought of Rocky, a fat, black and white, cat that belongs to my youngest daughter, and the contrasts between the two felines. .

Pippin is an outdoor cat that gets pleasure out of tormenting the neighborhood raccoons. He simply showed up one day at my son’s place and decided it was home.

He got neutered, is fed daily, and has a warm garage in which to sleep at night. But he remains an outdoor cat. Of all the cats in my large family’s menagerie, Pippin is my favorite. While very independent, he’s always ready for human contact and loving from any human who enters his territory.

He considers himself an animal guard cat, however, and any trespassing dogs should beware..

Rocky, on the other hand, was rescued during a Guam typhoon by my daughter and is not allowed outside. He’s picky about whom he cozies up to, preferring my son-in-law’s lap to any other.

His primary playmate is a great Dane, whom he bosses around.

So, for contrast, I offer up Pippin and Rocky.

Bean’s Pat: where’s my toothbrush: Camel Riding in Jaisalmer http://tinyurl.com/7phjrsn A delightful travel blog about a camel adventure in India.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ants, cats, contrast, pat bean, postaday | 1 Comment »

Time to Move On

March 10, 2012 by Pat Bean

“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.

Posted in Journeys, Travels With Maggie | Tagged grief, pat bean, pet death, postaday, winston churchill | 21 Comments »

Maggie’s Gone

March 8, 2012 by Pat Bean

Half asleep but with one eye open because Ijust opened the refrigerator door. Maggie had more attitude than any dog I ever owned. And I will miss her greatly. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I can’t stop crying long enough to write. Maggie’s gone to doggie heaven and whomever’s in charge damn well better make sure they treat her well. We lost the ear-infection battle.

Posted in Travels With Maggie | Tagged dog heaven, Maggie, pat bean, postaday | 51 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Distortion

March 3, 2012 by Pat Bean

 “The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth.” — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

 

Body Distortion: Day of the Dead, San Antonio, Texas -- Photo by Pat Bean

Bean’s Pat: Slowing Down to Save Time http://tinyurl.com/6wzf65g A lesson I would do well to take to heart.

Posted in Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged day of the dead, distortion, pat bean, postaday, san antonio, weekly photo challenge | 8 Comments »

Favorite Places: Manatee Hammocks RV Park

March 2, 2012 by Pat Bean

 “Hear! Hear! Screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, “winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel if you know where to look for it.” — Henry David Thoreau.

The pier through the trees at Manatee Hammocks RV Park in Titusville, Florida. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Florida scrub jay -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’m sitting by a bank of third-floor windows looking out past naked tree branches at a dull Chicago day in which snow has been forecast.

It’s quite different from the Texas Gulf Coast I left behind. According to today’s weather report, it’s 77 degrees and raining in Lake Jackson. I hope someone remembered to shut the windows in my RV and turn on the air conditioner for Maggie.

Actually I’m sure they – my son, Lewis, and his wife, Karen – did. Karen just texted me that Maggie had a nice walk this morning and shared their steak dinner yesterday evening.

I left Maggie behind to fly into Chicago for a week to visit my youngest son, Michael.

Thinking about my two-and-a-half-hour flight from one climate to another got me thinking about the winters of my past.

Oranges just outside my RV door. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I grew up in Dallas, where we might get a bit of snow that stayed on the ground less than a day. Then there was Texas’ Gulf Coast where the world stayed green through the winter, and a rare half-inch of snow maybe once every 10 years shut down schools.

In January, 1971, I moved to Northern Utah, where I didn’t see ground beneath the snow that year until early April. I took up skiing and came to love the snow.

Since retiring in 2004, winters have mostly been spent on the Texas Gulf Coast, although I did spend one December in Guam, and one entire winter in Florida.

That winter in Florida, while my friends back in Utah were buried in snow, I was seeking out shady spots – and getting a good look at my first Florida scrub jay, a bird that can be found only in Florida – and only in one small portion of the state.

I saw the bird on a tour that was part of the Titusville Bird Festival. For the week I spent in this area adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, I stayed at the Manatee Hammocks RV Park. It was a delightful place where I could pick fresh oranges just outside my RV door.

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, Travels With Maggie | Tagged Florida, florida scrub jay, kennedy space center, manatee hammocks rv park, NASA, pat bean, postaday, titusville | 2 Comments »

It’s Aways a Good Day When I Learn Something New

March 1, 2012 by Pat Bean

 “I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.” — Flash Rosenberg.

Kickapoo State Park, Illinois -- Just because I'm currently in Illinois. I sat out a major thunderstorm here in 2006. -- Photo by Pat Bean

And Today Was a Very Good Day

From now on, there will be no more spilled coffee. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I like my morning coffee, strong and heavily laced with half and half.

Drinking two cups every day is my morning ritual. That means I pour coffee into my mug at least, well sometimes I have three cups, 730 times annually. Multiply that by old-broad years.

Now I ask you, how many of those thousands of times that I’ve poured coffee from the pot into a cup do you think I’ve dribbled coffee on the counter while doing so?

My guess is that 50 percent of those times might be a bit too low. And I suspect I’m not alone in this. I’ve tried tilting the pot every which way but nothing ever seemed to work.

It took my son, Michael, whom I flew to Chicago yesterday to visit, to tell me what I was doing wrong. I decided I would tell all you readers who might not be as smart as Michael, who figured it out 10 years ago.

“It’s simply a matter of pouring it slowly Mother,” he told me this morning. “The design of the spout on the coffee pot is flawed.”

And all of a sudden I could see it. Duh! I thought.

So how many of you are as smart as my son, Michael? And how many as dumb as me?

Posted in Journeys, Travel | Tagged coffee, coffee pots, pat bean, postaday | 19 Comments »

Today’s News Made Me Angry

February 29, 2012 by Pat Bean

“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius

Soap Box Day

My rant might not have been pretty, but Lake Reidsville in North Carolina is awesome. I need to sit beside such a place until my blood pressure returns to normal. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I live on a fixed income, almost 20 percent of which goes to pay for Medicare and Medigap private insurance. While it’s too much, I try to be grateful that I can at least pay the health-care costs. Way too many older Americans can’t. And the young and poor are in the same situation.

Then today I read a story about Dallas-area medical service providers who bilked Medicare and Medicaid of nearly $375 million.

But that’s just a drop in the bucket. Health Care fraud costs the government at least 60 billion annually, according to the Associated Press story.

Part of that is my money, and yours, How much less would we seniors have to pay for medical care if the greedy cheaters had a drop of human kindness in their hearts. And how much more would workers get to take home of their paychecks if the cheaters didn’t get their unfair share.

Have these arrogant sons of, well-you-know, been among the world’s population all along, or have we forgotten to teach our children that the world does not owe them a living? What can we do about it?

I wish I had answers. All I can do is hope that some judge, somewhere, will put these greedy so-called medical providers out of circulation so they can do no more harm – and deny them medical care, too.

 

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature | Tagged cheaters, honesty, marcus aurelius, medical costs, medicare, pat bean, postaday | 7 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Indulgence

February 25, 2012 by Pat Bean

Diligence is a good thing, but taking things easy is more restful.” — Mark Twain

A quiet place to sit in the outdoors on an awesome day is my idea of indulging myself. I can read a book, or just sit quiet and let nature come to me. -- Photo by Pat Bean

  Bean’s Pat: Galen Leeds: Following the tracks of history. http://galenleeds.com/  The kind of wandering/wondering walk I love to take.

 

Posted in Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged indulgence, pat bean, postaday, weekly photo challenge | 9 Comments »

February 24, 2012 by Pat Bean

More About Maine

“I felt like I’d been misplaced in the cosmos and belonged in Maine … I had to live this long, have the experiences I’ve had, to create what I do. I knew I wanted to write for years, but I had to be ready so I wouldn’t blow it. The move to Maine was the final step. ” — Terry Goodkind

Travels With Maggie

Acadia National Park -- Photo by Pat Bean

Yesterday’s blog of a simply photograph, quote and my Bean’s Pat was a throw away, the kind of blog I write when I need a break from writing.

The comments it brought, however, got me thinking more about Maine and the nine days I spent there. The trip was part of a six-month, 23-states-and-Canada, 7,000-mile journey I made in 2006. It was my first time in New England.

I dawdled along the way, so that far too many of Maine’s birds that I wanted to see had already migrated by the time I reached Bar Harbor, Maine. I saw only eight new life birds of the twenty or so I had expected to find. And a storm blew up the day I was supposed to go whale watching.

Other than those annoyances, everything else about my Maine stay was perfect.

Bar Harbor streetscape. While I missed the birds, I caught the town's off season serenity. -- Photo by Pat Bean

One of the nicest things about my stay just outside of Bar Harbor was the free shuttle bus that stopped at my campground every half hour or so, and which took me all over Mount Desert Island, including Acadia National Park while my canine traveling compainion, Maggie, stayed behind in the RV.

The park is full of natural wonders to explore. One of these was Cadillac Mountain, the highest summit on the East Coast north of Rio de Janeiro, and the first spot in the mainland states to be hit by the morning sun in the fall and winter.

I was on its summit one dawn to catch that first ray of rosy light. I laughed, but to myself, when one guy standing nearby spotted a herring gull and got all excited because he thought he had seen a bald eagle. No reason I thought to extinguish his excitement. Later in the day I did see a bald eagle soaring over the park. I hope that guy also saw it.

As replacement for the canceled whale tour, I took a trolley tour of the island. Our guide was full of facts and trivia, such as President William Howard Taft’s 27 strokes on the Kebo Valley Golf Club’s 17^th hole back in 1910, and the fact that scenes for the Dark Shadows TV soap opera had occasionally been filmed on Mount Desert.

Hopefully the next time I’m in Maine – a revisit is definitely on my to-do list – I’ll arrive before the birds have migrated south.

Bean’s Pat: All Write: Spring and the Cigarettus Smokerus http://tinyurl.com/7ox9d76 As an avid bird watcher, I laughed my head off at this. But, warning, if you don’t have a sense of humor some among you may find this offensive and sexist.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travels With Maggie, Writing | Tagged acadia national park, bar harbor, Maine, mount desert, pat bean, postaday | 8 Comments »

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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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