Feeds:
Posts
Comments

One’s Own Backyard is Full of Amazing Magic

April 11, 2011 by Pat Bean

 

A Southern Arkansas sunrise provides a magical moment to all within its view. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 

“Each day I live in a glass room unless I break it with the thrusting of my senses and pass through the splintered walls to the great landscape.” Mervyn Peake

Travels With Maggie

I’ve seen hundreds of awesome landscapes since I began living and traveling in my RV, Gypsy Lee, seven years ago.

Whenever I visit an area, I take time to search out historic sites, lakes, parks and all the fantastic landmarks someone found important enough to write about in some guidebook.

What’s amazed me is that I find locals who have never taken the time to visit the places travelers come hundreds of miles to see.

“Always been meaning to go see that waterfall,” said an Oregon waitress when I was telling her about my morning visit to Multnomah Falls just east of her Portland home.

Pink life springs from beneath a carpet of dead leaves. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Then there was the Amarillo, Texas, grocery clerk who noted my Palo Duro Canyon T-shirt and asked me if the place was worth visiting?

“Lived here all my life and never seem to get the time to visit,” she said of the spectacular gorge that lay hidden only 30 miles away.

“Have you ever visited Yellowstone National Park,” I asked.

“Marvelous place.” She beamed as she chatted about seeing Old Faithful with her husband and two children.

I find it strange that people feel a sight isn’t worth seeing unless it’s hundreds of miles away. When I lived in Utah and work kept me close to home most of the year, weekends would often find me out exploring nearby landscapes.

Yellow pansies soaked with morning dew. -- Photo by Pat Bean

One Saturday it might just be a 20-mile journey on an unpaved canyon road to view “Tea Kettle” rock. Or on a Sunday, I would take a 150-mile round trip drive to board the old Heber Creeper train for the half-day ride through incredible scenery to Bridal Veil Waterfalls up Provo Canyon.

But while I’m addicted to the travel and the wonder that goes with it, I still know that most days all I need to do is step out my door to see something magical.

Yesterday it was a colorful sky with rays of sunlight streaming down toward earth. Today, as I walked Maggie, it was the magic of pink flowers poking up through a bed of last fall’s leaves.

Posted in Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

Refuge Morning: Fantastic Light and Pileated Woodpecker

April 10, 2011 by Pat Bean

 

My daughter Trish, grandson Tony and friend Tressie fishing off a Felsenthal dock early this morning. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 

“Morning is when the wick is lit. A flame ignited, the day delighted with heat and light, we start the fight for something more than before.” Jeb Dickerson

Travels With Maggie

My RV has been hooked up at Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge’s Grand Marais Campground for the past few days, where I came to spend time with my daughter, her husband, and three grandsons.

It’s been a relaxing weekend. While they have spent most of their time fishing, I have lazed around, taken quiet walks with Maggie and watched birds.

Pileated woodpecker -- Photo by Noel Lee

I’ve also spent a good portion of my days inside my air-conditioned RV. While it’s only April, it already feels like summer here in Southern Arkansas, where high humidity gives the temperature an artificial boost. Thankfully, my RV has large side windows that let me enjoy the outdoors from the comfort of indoors.

Among the more colorful visitors to my camp site have been red-headed woodpeckers and blue jays. The 65,000 acre wetlands refuge lies near the Louisiana border and is part of the Mississippi Flyway for migrating birds, making it both a birdwatcher and duck hunter paradise.

Morning Reflections at Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Early this morning, I drove down to one of the refuge’s main fishing dock with my daughter, intending to take some photographs and then walk the mile back to my RV before the day warmed up.

My timing was perfect. I had fantastic lighting for my picture-taking and a cool breeze and cloud cover for most of my return trip by foot. .

The whipped cream and cherry topping for the morning was a pileated woodpecker that flew overhead and landed in a tree. My heart skipped a beat as I listened to the large yellow-eyed, red-headed bird’s rat-a-tat-tat knocking.

Life is good.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Political Changes Need to Start Somewhere

April 9, 2011 by Pat Bean

 

Perhaps a quiet walk beneath a blue sky filled with fast-moving clouds, such as here in Utah's Canyonland National Park, will invigorate the will of politicians to do what is right for the American people. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“America is a tune. It must be sung together.” — Gerald Stanley Lee

Just for Today

Talk these past few days about the government shutting down has been disturbing to me, and I’m sure to many other Americans. But I didn’t feel any relief this morning when I read that the shutdown had been averted.

Instead I felt angry with all the games too many of our politicians have been playing to booster their own parties, their own images, their personal agendas and their personal vendettas. I watch as we, the American people, try to elect leaders who will go against the current political grain, only to see the newly elected join it.

I don’t have all the answers on how we can change this ever-worsening situation, but I do have a few suggestions:

One-term limit of four to six years for all politicians so they can spend their days working for the people instead of working for re-election.

Salary and benefit packages of elected officials that are in line with those of the average wage earner of their constituents so they will be more in touch with those they were elected to serve.

Everyone, not just politicians, could benefit from taking time to smell the flowers, such as these in Maine's Scarborough Marsh. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Politicians who are more concerned with what is right then in staying loyal to their parties.

And, most importantly, a mandatory day once a month for politicians to walk a scenic landscape with Mother Nature to restore their souls.

These suggestions, in case you’re interested, come from an old broad who is proud to be a tree-hugger who yearns for world peace.

Perhaps, dear blog readers, you have other suggestions for changing the status quo in our nation’s capital. If you do, hopefully you’ll share. Change has to have a beginning.

Posted in Nature | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Cornell Link Helps identify Songster

April 8, 2011 by Pat Bean

Carolina wren -- Photo by Dan Pancamo

“I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.” — Chuang Tzu.

Travels With Maggie

A tiny bird sang and sang and sang all day yesterday from a perch high in the trees in my daughter’s Southern Arkansas home. It was frustrating because I could never find the songster. My son-in-law, Joe, even joined in the search.

I mean this was a persistent bird that serenaded us hour after hour. But every time we got close to where we thought the sound was coming from, the bird would shut up.

While many birders easily identify birds by their songs, I’m not one of them.

Finally able to stand it no longer, I did what any computer savvy birder does these days. I got online and begin checking out bird sounds on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website. http://tinyurl.com/dbbobp

My suspicion that our loud, high-pitched songster might be a Carolina wren, which is a common bird in the area, was confirmed.

I was once again a happy birder.

Posted in Birds, Nature | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Turkey Vulture Encounter Not Pretty

April 7, 2011 by Pat Bean

A turkey vulture looking almost as graceful as a bald eagle. -- Photo by Don DeBold

“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” — Martin Luther King.

Travels With Maggie

My daughter, Trish, who one day may laugh again, lives at the end of a narrow road on the outskirts of Camden, Arkansas.

She’s learned to be careful driving the lane at night as deer lurk alongside the road and have been known to spook in the direction of bright headlights. It’s also common to see skunk, raccoon, squirrels, or armadillo scampering across the road – or lying dead along this rural stretch of rough pavement.

It was roadkill armadillo a few days ago when we were driving into town in Trish’s brand new minivan. And feasting on the upturned armadillo carcass were half a dozen vultures.

“Gads I hate those birds,” she moaned as we passed, to which I described their valuable role in helping keep our environment clean.

“I know. I know. But they’re still ugly.”

I don't think I'll ever convince my daughter there's beauty in this red-headed turkey vulture, but photographer Samuel Blanc, http://www.sblanc.com, caught the beauty in this picture.

Being one of those crazy birders who has never met a bird she didn’t like, I disagreed but then shut up as I knew convincing her otherwise was a lost cause. Now the cause is not just lost, it’s found its way into a parallel universe.

While driving home from work, my daughter came upon another roadkill scene and yet more vultures dining inelegantly. One of them, it seems, was even more reluctant than usual to forsake its evening meal.

The end of this tale is less pretty than the vulture. Seems the last one to fly away decided it might look good as a hood ornament on my daughter’s new car, which hadn’t yet 1,000 miles on the odometer.

The vulture put a dent on the vehicle’s hood before realizing this wasn’t such a good idea.

“Dang (actual word used censored) turkey vultures and their ugly red faces,” she darkly muttered when she finally got home and showed me the minor damage. She was gleeful that the bird staggered as it flew away.

I think all hope is lost for me to convince Trish that vultures are actually beautiful and a gift to the world. Wouldn’t you agree.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

State Parks High on my Overnight Travel Stops

April 6, 2011 by Pat Bean

White Oak lake State Park: A place to sit a while and watch the clouds roll by. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Arkansas has 52 state parks, 26 of which have facilities to accommodate RVs.

I know because finding state parks along my route is part of my regular trip-planning routine. If it were possible, I would spend all my on-the-road nights at state parks rather than commercial ones.

These public campgrounds are usually less expensive, have larger sites, and almost always come with a view and trails that Maggie and I can hike.

Hollyhocks growing near the Wonder House at Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Two of my favorite Arkansas campgrounds are White Oak Lake and Queen Wilhelmina. The first is located just 20 miles away from Camden, where I will start my travels for the year next week. I’ve visited it a couple of times but never stayed overnight because of its close proximity.

In a perfect traveling world – well the one that I prefer – I travel about 150 miles than camp for two to three days so I can become more personally acquainted with a landscape.

Queen Wilhelmina, meanwhile, is almost exactly 150 miles from my daughter’s home. I came upon it a few years back when I was driving the Talamina Scenic Byway between Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The park, located high on a ridge in the Ouachita Mountains was too inviting to pass by. I decided to stop for the night, although I had only traveled 20 miles this day.  Five days later I finally left to continue my journey.

This time around I’m planning to spend my first night on the road at yet another Arkansas State Park. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you all about it next week.

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” William Least Heat Moon, “Blue Highways”

Posted in Lakes, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Secret Garden and Chaos Both World Realities

April 5, 2011 by Pat Bean

 

Every garden should have a pond -- Photos by Pat Bean

“Where you tend a rose, my lad, a thistle cannot grow.” — Frances Hodgson Burnett

Travels With Maggie

News in the world today is not good. Anybody who doesn’t know this is suffering from reality disorder.

We may soon be eating radioactive fish. There are shooting wars aplenty including gang wars in our own country. We’re suffering from loss of freedoms because of terrorist threats, and from corporate greed that’s making the rich richer and the poor poorer. We have a melting ice cap, diminishing wetlands and rain forests, and politicians running amok all over the globe.

The purple tulips

How does a person stay sane amidst all the chaos? It’s not easy.

The red turtle

As a former journalist who was deeply embedded in world affairs for 37 years, I spent the first six months in retirement rarely reading a newspaper. It was a nice reprieve.

But I’ve now returned to my morning dose of worldly events, and because it’s still one of this country’s few newspapers that doesn’t believe Britney Spears, Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan’s shenanigans belong on its front page, the online version of the New York Times is my first newspaper-with-coffee choice of information these days.

Belle in the meadow -- Photo by Pat Bean

What I read rarely cheers me up. But I have an antidote, my morning walk with Maggie, where I let Mother Nature’s reality convince me there is still hope for the world. For the past week the walk has simply been around my daughter’s five-acres of land in Camden, Arkansas.

The view includes my daughter’s “Secret Garden,” which is still under construction. And yes, it is named after the book of the same name by Frances Hodgson Burnett written in 1910. It was one of my favorite books as a child, and one each of my children also read and loved.

If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s still in print and you can even download it for free on your Kindle. Meanwhile here are a few of the peaceful sights Maggie and I have been seeing this past week.

Posted in Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Newly Hatched Bald Eagles Wow my Soul

April 4, 2011 by Pat Bean

A pair of bald eagles, injured in the wild, that are living out their lives at the Brevard Zoo in Florida. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.” — Carl Sandburg

Just for Today

Ever since I counted 149 eagles wintering at the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area in Northern Utah, I’ve been a bit blase when spotting a lone bald eagle. Of course I still look for this symbol of our American heritage, and even experience a shiver or two when I do see one flying overhead or sitting atop a tall tree.

I appreciate the sightings all the more  because of this great bird’s comeback from near extinction with the passage of the Endangered Species Act and the banning of DDT.

This morning, however, the adrenalin-pumping thrill of eagle watching was back, thanks to a live, streaming video cam in Iowa that I watched on my computer here in Arkansas. The cam is aimed at a 1.5 ton eagle nest, 80 feet up in a cottonwood tree on the bank of Trout Run Creek at the Decorah Fish Hatchery. The large nest is being attended by a coupled pair of eagles.

When I first looked, all I saw was one of the adults sitting on the nest, on what I had read were three eggs. When next I looked, one of the adult eagles was gently feeding two chicks while the third egg was still unhatched. Reading a bit more, I learned that the first chick hatched Saturday, and the second yesterday. Perhaps the third will hatch today. The pair successfully fledged three chicks in 2010.

Great blue herons at Farmington Bay in Northern Utah, where I once counted 149 bald eagles on a February day. -- Photo by Pat Bean

As I write this, the eagle is now back sitting on her chicks to keep them warm. What appears to be a healthy breeze is ruffling the feathers of the adult eagle.

 You can hear the wind blowing, the creek babbling, the chicks peeping and just now the honk of geese flying somewhere overhead.

I plan to keep the feed to the site open on my computer today. Perhaps you would like to join me for the show. http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Morning Brings a Ruby-Throated Hummer to My RV Window

April 3, 2011 by Pat Bean

Male ruby-throated hummingbird on guard duty. -- Photo by Joe Schneid

“Two birds disputed about a kernel, when a third swooped down and carried it off.” Proverb from the Congo.

Travels With Maggie

I usually start my morning with the first hint of gray coloring over the ebony of the night. It’s as if my body stirs with the announcement that the golden globe creeping up from the eastern horizon might bring with it a spectacular sunrise.

This morning in Camden, however, the sun was hiding behind an overcast sky. Instead Mother Nature graced me with a different gift. As I lay abed, thinking about which of the things on my to-do list I would tackle first, a hummingbird landed on the nectar feeder I had put out yesterday, carefully placing it so I could easily see any winged visitors from my RV window.

While all the bird presented to me in the dim morning light was its dark profile, I knew it was probably one of the two ruby-throated hummingbirds that I had watched play king of the nectar feeder the day before. Identifying hummingbird species in Arkansas is a snap for anyone – if it’s anything other than a ruby-throated, it’s a rare bird sighting.

Female ruby-throated hummingbird. -- Photo by Joe Schneid

As I had watched the two scrappers find the nectar feeder within minutes of my hanging it up, the pair had been a blur of whirring wings performing a territorial dance. As soon as one would land on the red lip of the feeder, the other would come zinging down at it.

This morning, my lone, dawn visitor sat still as a bittern stretching its long neck in the weeds to camouflage itself. About every 30 seconds or so, the hummer would dip its thin bill down into the feeder to sip up nectar. It was warming up its fragile body from the cool night – raising its resting 250-per-minute heart rate back up to its daytime rhythm of about 1,200 heart beats a minute.

Such numbers fascinate me, as does the fact that this tiny dynamo weighs less than half an ounce , beats its wings over 50 times a second and can hover and fly in any direction, including upside down.

Meanwhile, I wondered where the second hummer from yesterday was this morning, perhaps at the duplicate feeder hanging from my daughter’s patio roof on the other side of her property. I suspect ed that once they had refueled, they might resume their territorial game.

I can’t wait for the show to begin. But in the meantime I have a to-do list to tackle.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Wisteria and Dogwood Mean It’s Spring in Arkansas

April 2, 2011 by Pat Bean

 

One of two dogwood trees visible out my RV, shown in background, during my and Maggie's visit to my daughter's home in Camden, Arkansas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in in bloom.” — Terri Guillemets

 Travels With Maggie

When it’s bluebonnet time in Texas, the wisteria and dogwood are blooming in Arkansas.

The purple chandeliers of wisteria, a woody vine that likes to curl itself around a tree to rise into the air, begin dotting the roadside forest as soon as I crossed the border between the two states in Texarkana.

Then every few miles as I drove deeper into the state, a patch of white dogwood blossoms, usually sheltered by some larger tree, would add its delicate voice to the landscape.

These purple and white flowers helped ease the pain of leaving the magnificence of Texas bluebonnets waving good-bye from my RV’s rear-view mirror.

I arrived at my youngest daughter’s home here in Camden, Arkansas, a few days ago during a late cold spell and overcast days. The sun finally came out yesterday – and so did my camera.

Wild wisteria adds a touch of magical color to Arkansas' landscape. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Wisteria grows wild in the forested land that partially surrounds my daughter’s five-acre rural home, and two dogwood trees grow on her side of the fence.

Both Texas and Arkansas claim the sassy northern mockingbird as their state bird. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I thought I would share their beauty with you. For good measure, I’ve included a picture of a northern mockingbird that hangs around my RV. It’s a familiar sight in both Texas and Arkansas, with both states claiming it as their state bird.

Life is good.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »