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Nothing Seems to Have Changed

January 6, 2016 by Pat Bean

          

The color purple makes my world better, especially when it trims up some white flowers and helps attract a butterfly. Photo by Pat Bean

Flowers make  my world better, especially when they attract a butterfly.           Photo by Pat Bean

 

  “The salvation of America and of the human race depends on the next election … But so it was last year, and so it was the year before, and our fathers believed the same thing 40 years ago.”    

While these words might have been written just yesterday, they were actually written 168 years ago by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The color blue cheers up my world too, especially when used by glass artist Chihuly in this outdoor sculpture piece. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The color blue cheers up my world too, especially when used by glass artist Chihuly in this outdoor sculpture piece. — Photo by Pat Bean

I came across the quote when I was reading my 1998 journal, some of which was written at the same time I was reading Emerson’s journals and, at the same time, ranting about talk show hosts like Jerry Springer and narrow-minded windbags who preach of Christian values but seem to have no Christianity in them.

I was a reporter at the time and so couldn’t turn off what was going on in the world, which some days I now do for the sake of my sanity. Instead, back then, I comforted myself with the thoughts of writers like Emerson, who recognized the world has its cruel side, always has and probably always will, but focused more on its positive attributes.

“My life is a May game. I will live as I like. I defy your strait-laced, weary, social ways and modes. Blue is the sky, green the fields and groves, fresh the springs, glad the rivers, and hospitable the splendor of sun and star. I will play by game out,” he wrote, as well as: “If Milton, if Burns, if Bryant, is in the world, we have more tolerance, and more love for the changing sky, the mist, the rain, the bleak overcast day, the sun is raining light.”

            For me, it’s been writers like Maya Angelou, who believed God put rainbows in the sky to give us hope, and Charles Kuralt, who saw the everyday kindness of the back roads as making up for the acts of greed in the headlines, who have made my world better.

It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn’t in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers and criminals,” wrote Kuralt.

If, as my grandmother would say, it looks like the world is going to hell in a hand basket – and I can’t disagree in these troubling times – there is good out there, too. Neighbors helping neighbors when hard times fall, kindness and thoughtfulness as part of everyday, ordinary lives, and friendships and partnerships that last a lifetime.

Yes. Nothing ever seems to change.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat: CindyKnoke http://tinyurl.com/jsbmjdl I’ve always wanted to live for six months on a houseboat on the Mississippi River. It’s on my bucket list. But this houseboat in Amsterdam looks pretty cool, too. What do you think?

Posted in Art, Books, Journeys, Nature | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments »

New Year’s Resolutions

January 2, 2016 by Pat Bean

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.” Neil Gaiman

I want to take time to smell the flowers and enjoy Mother Nature in 2016. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I want to take time to smell the flowers and enjoy Mother Nature in 2016. — Photo by Pat Bean

Kindness

            I toasted the New Year into being with two dear friends and with my last Jack and Coke of the evening; and then the three of us burned our New Year’s resolutions in a bowl on my balcony, sending our intentions smokily drifting up into the cold night air.

And so ended 2015 and 2016 began.

And I want to play more. I'm third from the right floating down the Little Colorado into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 1999.

And I want to play more. I’m third from the right floating down the Little Colorado into the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 1999.

Steven Spielberg says that every single year we’re a different person. I agree 110 percent.

My two friends said the way they wanted to be different in the coming year was that they wanted to be kinder. An admirable resolution for one, an outspoken, cheeky woman whom I treasure, but a redundancy for the other who is one of the kindest people I know.

I think of myself as a kind person, but as the others spoke, I realized I was not that kind as I seldom go out of my way do kind things for others. Perhaps, I thought, this should be one of my New Year’s Resolutions, too.

It’s certainly a resolution that the entire world could use during this time of terrorism, war, beheadings, rapes, and mockery of others on television. We’re all guilty of the latter one. If such atrocities as making fun of how people dress, or look, or are simply different didn’t attract viewers, such media behavior would disappear.

Then there is the recent political rhetoric about Muslims that has made a Muslim friend of mine, one who was born in America and is one of the most peace-loving people I know, afraid to go to the grocery store.

Yes. Purposely and thoughtfully, I added kindness to my New Year’s Resolutions. I believe it is the only way that 2016 can end up being a different and better world.

What do you think?

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat: Daily Essay http://tinyurl.com/z7yu6pe Tongue in cheek about New Year’s Resolutions. If you’re a writer, I bet these will make you laugh

 

Posted in Journeys | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

A Homemade Christmas Gift

December 30, 2015 by Pat Bean

 “The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.” – Charles Dudley Warner

birthday wall hanging made by my daughter and her husband that is both thoughtful and appropriate for me. I love it, and I hung it where I can see it frequently. .

A birthday wall hanging made by my daughter and her husband that is both thoughtful and appropriate for me. I love it, and I hung it where I can see it frequently.

Appropriately Thoughtful

My kids have accused me of better remembering where I saw a bird for the first time than their birthdays.

Not true. I remember all my children’s birthdays. You don’t forget the day you gave birth. Of course I don’t remember, or sometimes even know, the birthdays of their spouses, grandkids or great-grandkids. In my defense there are a lot of them.

Now, however, I have no excuse. My youngest daughter and her husband made a Christmas gift for me that is most appropriate. I love it and immediately made a place on the wall to hang it where I can’t help but see it frequently each day.

I suspect I’m not going to get away with forgetting someone’s birthday anymore.

Bean Pat: Snow crow http://tinyurl.com/qhwlcdc Simply a short blog that a birder might enjoy, or anyone else who loves watching wildlife in nature’s habitat.

 

Posted in Journeys, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Road Trip: From Dallas to Tucson

December 29, 2015 by Pat Bean

Through my windshield: Somewhere in New Mexico on one of the better stretches of road. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Through my windshield: Somewhere in New Mexico on one of the better stretches of road. — Photo by Pat Bean

“One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.” – William Feather

Snow and Ice Adventure

            I left Dallas the day after Christmas, after three weeks visiting my scattered Texas family. It was a quiet, cold overcast morning with 950 miles of interstate driving ahead of me. I hate freeway driving, but I needed to get home by the 27th because my Tucson daughter was having surgery on the 28th.

To make the drive go faster, I listened to an audible version of Ken Follett’s “Edge of Eternity,” which is the third of the author’s Century Trilogy, and which covers the period of the 1960’s through the ‘80s. Those are years I lived through, so the book was a refresher history course for me of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis and Civil Rights issues.

Not too far from my daughter's Rowlett home.

Not too far from my daughter’s Rowlett home.

About 5 p.m., I pulled into Van Horn, Texas, and checked into a $47 a night Motel 6 – and immediately regretted my economy decision. About 7 p.m., as I was lying on the bed (on my own blanket) watching TV, the electricity went out. It flickered on and off for another hour then blacked out altogether. I blamed the cheap motel until I got up a bit later and opened the window curtain to see if I could let in some light. My car, parked right outside my door, had about 10 inches of snow on it — and the entire town was blacked out.

The next morning I learned of the Texas tornados, and that one had sat down just two miles from my daughter’s home — where my return to Arizona journey had started. Thankfully all my Texas family was OK, although sadly other families were not so fortunate.

Since I needed to get home, I got on the road early – well, after a half hour of scrapping ice and snow off my car without the proper tools and no gloves. For a while the roads were clear, but somewhere before I hit El Paso, snow began to fall. And somewhere after El Paso, the roads turned to ice. At one point I was following a snowplow, and at another traffic slowed to 10 mph, or even stopped completely a time or two.

Cayenne in El Paso, after I cleaned her up in Van Horn and before the nasty New Mexico snow and ice. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Cayenne in El Paso, after I cleaned her up in Van Horn and before the nasty New Mexico snow and ice. — Photo by Pat Bean

On the sides of the road were many stuck and wrecked cars and semis, whose drivers I assumed didn’t know the first rule of getting from one place to another on ice. Drive as if you have no brakes because you’re going to lose control of your vehicle when you apply them.

With 25 years of Northern Utah winter driving behind me, I felt reasonably confident I would make it through, and so I decided to take William Feather’s advice and consider the day an adventure.

It worked. I forgot about making time and my stress level dropped significantly – and I even made it home before dark. You don’t get many adventures like this at my age.           

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat: Pelicans http://ghostbearphotography.com/pelicans/   One of my favorite bloggers hates birds, but loves pelicans. I love his photos.

 

 

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Travel | Tagged , , | 7 Comments »

Merry Christmas to All

December 25, 2015 by Pat Bean

“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to it original dimension.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The first week of January, 2013, at my brand new apartment. I didn't know how unusual the now was in Tucson. I haven't seen it in the city since. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The first week of January, 2013, at my brand new apartment. I didn’t know how unusual that was in Tucson. I haven’t seen snow in the city since. — Photo by Pat Bean

2016 is Almost Here

I hope all my readers have good times, good laughs and lots of hugs this holiday season. I’ll see you again in 2016 when my goal is to do five blogs a week.

Pepper -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pepper — Photo by Pat Bean

Pepper says hi, too.

 

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Journeys | Tagged | 4 Comments »

Writing and Talking

December 12, 2015 by Pat Bean

“A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.” — Charles Peguy

arches, 3 gossips

“We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.” — Diogenes

Two Different Worlds for Me

Ann V. Klotz wrote an essay for the Brevity Blog that began with the sentence: “I write the way I speak.” It stopped me in my tracks and had me recalling what my newspaper colleagues often said to me. “It’s a good thing Pat Bean doesn’t write the way she speaks.”

I think it was partially because of my Texas accent, but I knew it was also true in other way a well. I actually don’t write the way I speak. My thoughts and verbal communication skills get tangled up when my tongue is moving. The truth is I started writing because I discovered it was the best way for me to communicate.

It is common for me to sit down in front of a blank page on my computer thinking I’m going to write one thing and my fingers actually type something else. While the words might actually be on the same subject I sat down to write about, they are often not what I thought I was going to say.

Writing clarifies my thoughts and pushes ideas much deeper and clearer into my head. I can’t imagine what my life would be without the written word. Perhaps that’s because things only seem real to me after I write about them, or more likely I only remember things as they were after they become words on a page.

So do you write like you talk, or are more like me? Do you know?

Bean Pat: Ann V. Klotz’ Brevity blog in case you’re interested. I find the process other writers employ fascinating. http://tinyurl.com/ozxkd9h  

Posted in Journeys, Writing | Tagged | 4 Comments »

Time to Fill the Holes

December 6, 2015 by Pat Bean

“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” – Steve Jobs

The view from my living room balcony, from which I've been watching fall come to my apartment complex -- because I've had time to do so. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The view from my living room balcony, from which I’ve been watching fall come to my apartment complex — because I’ve had time to do so. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” Bill Keanne

What Holes?

Once upon a time, when my life was extraordinarily complicated, I told a psychiatrist that I would be OK when I got through whatever the current crisis was at the time.

A fall leaf and a wooly bear caterpillar, which some say can predict the upcoming weather. -- Photo by Pat Bean

A fall leaf and a wooly bear caterpillar, which some say can predict the upcoming weather. — Photo by Pat Bean

He then asked me what would happen when I had no crisis to face. I thought it a stupid question until a few years later when my life suddenly did become crisis free – except of course for the occasional sh*t happens incidents that hit everyone. I discovered that without the stress of surviving one emergency situation after another, there was a great big hole in my life.

It took a while for me to adjust, and many mistakes along the way, before I filled up that hole. I did it by staying extremely active, especially in the outdoors. I hiked, I skied, I rafted, I sailed, I bird-watched and I canoed. And when I wasn’t doing one of those things I was most-likely at work or sleeping.

But because I loved my job so much, I knew that when I retired there would be a big hole once again in my life. That simply wouldn’t do. So I filled it quickly by selling my home and taking to the road full time in an RV. Every day was a new wonder full of route planning, sight-seeing, driving, hiking, bird watching, meeting new people and learning new things.

I stayed on the road, traveling this awesome country for almost nine wondrous years. But then it was time for that life to end.

Three years ago this month, I settled in a small apartment in Tucson. Of course that meant there was another hole to be filled. But I only partially filled it this time around, leaving plenty of time for my mind to gallivant the world from an armchair.

While I still take a few short hikes, write a bit every day, play around with my water colors, do a bit of bird watching, take in a couple of local plays every month, walk Pepper four time a day, and have a friend over a couple of times a week for happy hour, that still leaves plenty of down time, something I’ve never had before in my life.

I love it. I never knew before how much time alone I needed, and would treasure so passionately, until I had time to be alone to simply be with myself.

There are no holes in me.           

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat: Sunday Meditation http://tinyurl.com/z7jm9qx Positive thoughts in quotes. I loved them.

Posted in Journeys | Tagged , , | 19 Comments »

Thrift Shop Treasures

November 30, 2015 by Pat Bean

A painting from on of Thomas Kinkaid' puzzles. Sadly, the artist died in 2012 at the young age of 54.

A painting from one of Thomas Kinkade’s puzzles. Sadly, the artist died in 2012 at the young age of 54.

“You can’t open a book without learning something.” – Confucius

You Never Know When You Will Find One

I was coming back from a weekend spent camping at Roosevelt Lake with my friend, Jean, when she suggested we stop at the Golden Goose in the small town of Catalina just north of Tucson.

001            “What’s the Golden Goose?” I asked.

“A thrift shop,” she answered. And so we stopped.

As always, I headed to the used book section to look for a treasure.

What I found was a travel book called “Chasing the Horizon” with words by Patrick Kinkade and art by his brother Thomas, whose serenely stunning art has been the subject of many 1,000-piece puzzle I have put together.

I bought the book, which had been published in 1997, and put it on my bookshelf, where it sat for over a year. About a week ago, it hit the top of my reading list. The book is about a trip the brothers took with their Dad through the British Isles and France.

Reading it gave me a startling new view of the prolific artist whose works dubbed him the Painter of Light. Thomas’s paintings mostly depict idealistic

American landscapes with gardens, stone cottages, light houses pastoral steams. Because of his art, I stereotyped him as a quiet, gentle man who probably saw the world through rose-colored glasses.

Instead I found two rowdy brothers who loved to pull pranks and often ignored rules. The trip was mostly to cover the same ground their father had when he served during World War II and ended up  in Normandy. The book let me see the same territory through the eyes of an observant writer, an idealistic artist, and a Dad, who had wanderlust in his soul – just like me.

While once again the book reminded me that stereotyping seldom works, it also reminded me that treasures aren’t all that hard to find.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat:  Light and Fluffy http://tinyurl.com/javnu3h  Those who turn clouds into castles and dragons, or alligators and cats, should get a laugh out of this. I did.

Posted in Books, Journeys | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Favorite Places to Have Coffee

November 26, 2015 by Pat Bean

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It was way past coffee time when I gave Pepper her last walk yesterday evening, but the jolt I got from this sight was as good as any caffeine. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It was way past coffee time when I gave Pepper her last walk yesterday evening, but the jolt I got from this sight was as good as any caffeine. — Photo by Pat Bean

            ”This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army of the battlefield, and the battle takes place. Things remembered arrive at full gallop, ensuing to the wind. The light cavalry of comparisons deliver a magnificent deploying charge, the artillery of logic hurry up with their train and ammunition … Similes arise, the paper is covered with ink; for the struggle commences and is concluded with torrents of black water, just as a battle with powder.” ~ Honoré de Balzac, “The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee”

Cream, No Sugar, Please

  1. Sitting on my bedroom balcony watching the weather of the day, be it sunny or stormy, play with the light and shadows on Mount Lemmon.
  2. In a hot bath on a cold morning.
  3. In a go cup at the dog park watching Pepper play with other dogs
  4. While in the car at the beginning of a road trip.
  5. Walking Pepper on the ridge outside my apartment complex as the sun makes its appearance for the day.
  6. In bed with a lover who got up and fixed the coffee, admittedly unfulfilled dreams of younger days. I always fixed the coffee.
  7. Chatting with a good friend who dropped by for coffee.
  8. Sitting in a corner at a coffee shop people watching and imagining their lives.
  9. In an airport waiting to depart for a new adventure.
  10. And sitting at my desk and writing this blog – or writing anything else that excites me.           
Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Blog pick of the Day. Check it out.

Bean Pat: Lisa-Jo Baker http://tinyurl.com/oecw232 Good advice for the holidays even if you’re not a mother

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys | Tagged | 8 Comments »

100 Things I’m Thankful For

November 25, 2015 by Pat Bean

“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” — Alphonse Karr
I'm thankful I got to ride a camel with my 4-year-old great-grandson Kaiden. It was a first for both of us. -- Photo by my granddaughter, Keri.

I’m thankful I got to ride a camel with my 4-year-old great-grandson Kaiden. It was a first for both of us. — Photo by my granddaughter, Keri.

In No Particular Order

1, That at 76, I rode a camel for the first time – and with a four-year-old great-grandson.

  1. America’s soldiers, who fight for my freedom, especially the ones I have as a woman able to travel alone and voice my opinion without fear of being stoned. I think daily of my sisters across the ocean who suffer the tyranny of men.
  2. The vivid colors that sunrises and sunsets paint the canvas sky.
  3. My canine companion, Pepper, my shadow who is full of joy and who keeps me from ever feeling lonely.
  4. Listening to a storm rage outside while I’m cozily standing on my third-floor balcony looking out over the Sonoran Desert, for which I am also thankful.

    I'm even thankful for Pepper after she's killed a stuffed cat and I have to pick up the mess. -- Photo by Pat Bean

    I’m even thankful for Pepper after she’s killed a stuffed cat and I have to pick up the mess. — Photo by Pat Bean

  5. Friends, far and near, who know and accept me for who I am, an old broad who is now trying to live life so there will be no regrets.
  6. That magic, silent gray minute between which night becomes day.
  7. A new journal and a good pen.
  8. Learning something new every day.
  9. Air conditioning, heaters, washing machines, soft blankets, a comfortable chair with a good reading lamp, hot baths and all the other comforts of life so abundant to me.
  10. The humming birds, verdins, finches and even woodpeckers that visit my nectar feeder daily, as well as all the other species of these winged creatures that live beside us, often unseen.
  11. Books and the authors who write them. “Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are.” – Mason Cooley 
  12. Road trips.

    I'm thankful for the color yellow. -- Photo by Pat Bean

    I’m thankful for the color yellow. — Photo by Pat Bean

  13. The multiple moods of the Catalina Mountains that form the backdrop for my view from my bedroom balcony. They shimmer in sunlight, take on a green hue after a heavy rain, and play hide-and-seek among the clouds on stormy days.
  14. The amazing and supportive women of Story Circle Network, a group of writing women to which I belong. .
  15. Fields of colorful wild flowers, especially Texas’ bluebonnets.
  16. Lake reflections, especially those that let you enjoy the vivid color of autumn trees twice.
  17. My passion for nature and wildlife that makes each and every day amazing with surprises that range from a double rainbow to a speckled fawn stepping out from the trees.
  18. Every morning I awake ready for another day.
  19. All National Parks, but especially my beloved Zion in Southern Utah.

    A Texas sunrise

    A Texas sunrise

  20. That I’m a writer and can capture life on the wing and live through the good times twice.
  21. Comfortable shoes, cargo pants and bright-colored T-shirts, my wardrobe of choice.
  22. My life, the hard of it and the joy of it, which has made me the person I am today.
  23. Heartfelt hugs
  24. That I got to see the return of California condors to the wild and wolves to Yellowstone
  25. Ibuprofen to relieve aching bones and muscles after hikes and on cold wet days.
  26. Holding hands with family at Thanksgiving while everyone tells what they are thankful for.
  27. That I am reasonably healthy, and that I can pay for decent health insurance, even if it takes a huge bite out of my limited budget.
  28. The pair of great-horned owls that mated in a tree in my apartment complex and gave us three young ones who posed for my camera.
  29. My good women friends, Kim, Kris and Jean, who know all my secrets and won’t tell because I know theirs, too. And my good male friend and former colleague Charlie, who kept me sane when we worked together and who still cheers me on.

    Acadia National Park in Maine

    Acadia National Park in Maine

  30. African, cream-laced coffee, something I became addicted to in 2007 when I visited Kenya and Tanzania and went on safari.
  31. Large, gnarly live oak trees that provide beauty to the soul and shade on a hot summer day in Texas.
  32. Gurgling brooks, flowing rivers, memories of giant rapids I’ve survived and waterfalls.
  33. Personal achievements of family members and friends – and of course my own, too. .
  34. Scented candles
  35. Completing a difficult task.
  36. Smiles and belly laughs
  37. My small apartment in which I’ve nested now for three years without my feet getting too itchy.
  38. Happy hour on my balcony with a good friend and a stiff Jack and Coke.
  39. When the Palo Verde trees bloom and the roadsides turn yellow.
  40. My pocket Canon digital camera with its great zoom – and stabilizer that allows this amateur photographer to take good, sometimes great, photos.
  41. Antibiotics and vaccinations
  42. Helen Reddy singing “I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar.”
  43. That the price of gas has dropped.
  44.   My wrinkles, flabby belly and sagging boobs that are well-earned and name me survivor. I’m just happy to still have some go in me.
  45. The journey between destinations
  46. People who still believe that despite all the wars and chaos in the world, there is still hope for peace, even if not in our lifetimes.
  47. Moisturizing cream for my dry skin.
  48. The almost daily e-mails I share with a daughter-in-law.
  49. Time to read, and good glasses that make it possible.
  50. Short hikes that are still within my ability, like the one to Emerald Pools in Zion, which I did on my birthday this year.
  51. Good memories of my mother.
  52. My daily walks with Pepper
  53. WordPress for hosting this blog
  54. An evening spent in a clean hotel room after a long day’s drive
  55. Aspens in fall, when their colors twinkle in the air and the leaves sing to you, which happened to me last month when I took a road trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon
  56. Waking up to a world made pristine by an overnight snowfall.
  57. People who like and comment on my blog.
  58. The honking of geese as they fly overhead
  59. Butterflies
  60. Board games with competitive people who are as good losers as they are winners.
  61. Full moon nights, or dark nights with thousands of stars
  62. A good haircut, which was almost a rarity this past year.
  63. That I now have a great-granddaughter to go with my three great grandsons.
  64. That I haven’t had any recent dental problems, especially since I have no dental insurance.
  65. Bra-less days.
  66. The fun I have with my watercolor paintings, even if they aren’t masterpieces.
  67. My curiosity
  68. Roger Tory Peterson, who created the first user-friendly field guides for identifying birds, a hobby that has given me many hours of enjoyment. .
  69. That Pepper, unlike my former canine companion Maggie, likes to cuddle up close on cold nights – warm nights too, which is OK because I have air conditioning.
  70. Chocolate and ice cream.
  71. Scenic byways and backroads – which I promise myself I’m going to travel more of in 2016.
  72. Days when my mutual funds make money instead of losing it.
  73. Time alone with my thoughts.
  74. Audible books, especially on nights when my eyes are tired but I can’t sleep.
  75. The GPS, which I finally got this year.
  76. My brother Robert, who moved to Tucson this year, and who hasn’t once pushed my buttons the wrong way. We’ve done that to each other over the years.
  77. The many opportunities to see live plays in Tucson. I’ve gone to quite a few this year, and not once been disappointed.
  78. Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and his sunflower paintings, and all the other artists who charge my creative battery.
  79. My writing desk with its window view and computer that has behaved all this past year.
  80. The fun stationary a granddaughter gave me, and our notes back and forth to each other.
  81. The many long talks I’ve had with my oldest daughter this past year while she drove to work. They’ve brought us closer than we’ve ever been.
  82. Pedicures and French manicures.
  83. Going to sports events and other activities involving my three grandsons, ages 14, 15 and 16, who live in Tucson.
  84. My good non-stick skillet and favorite pan

88 The two hikes I’ve taken up Ramsey Canyon this year, one of which gave me a red-faced warbler, which is now the 707th species on my life bird list.

  1. That there are still plenty of birds to add to my life list
  2. My monthly Social Security check.
  3. Soft flannel pajamas
  4. The color purple.
  5. The new recliner I bought this year when I was suffering from back pain, but I’m thankful I don’t have to sleep in it any more.
  6. That I can wake up without an alarm clock, even if it’s at 5:30 a.m.
  7. Maps to dream over. .
  8. The public library, which gives me endless books to read when my budget is strained to the breaking point.
  9. Fireflies
  10. The fragrant scent of a blooming gardenia bush, which always reminds me of my grandmother.
  11. Mosquito repellant.
  12. Last, but certainly least, my family, which includes five children, 15 grandchildren, 4 ½ great-grandchildren, and my adopted grandchildren, Cory and his wonderful family. And BJ, who recently graduated from high school, and whom I haven’t seen in way too long

 

Posted in Journeys, Nature | Tagged | 14 Comments »

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