Pat Bean's blog

Wanderlust

October 21, 2013 by Pat Bean

Wherever I traveled, books were always part of the journey. And this lake in Illinois’ Lincoln Trail State Park is just one of many I’ve sat beside while reading. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Travel is like love: It cracks you open, and so pushes you over all the walls and low horizons that habits and defensiveness set up.” – Pico Iyer

Finding Buried Treasure

The above quote begins essayist Pico Iyer’s foreword in the book “Wanderlust: Real Life Tales of Adventure and Romance.”

Just find me a bench, like this one that sits in Amherstburg, Ontario, beside an Erie River harbor, and a book, and I can be happy for hours. — Photo by Pat Bean

I recently reclaimed this book of travel essays, unread except for the foreword, from one of the dozen or so bins of stuff I couldn’t part with when I began a life on the road in 2004. Finding it again – with its many intriguing chapter titles such as “On the Amazon,” “Naxos Nights,” “I Lost it at Club Med,” “Bewitched on Bali” and “Sleeping with Elephants,” was like coming across buried treasure.

A travel book is always one of the books I’m reading at any given time, along with a mystery, a fantasy and a nature book (more and more these days on my Kindle); and I always have dozens of backups – I guess you could say books are my security blanket.

As I renewed my acquaintance with this book of essays called “Wanderlust,” which I acquired before spending nine years living full-time in a small RV, I saw that I had highlighted quite a few of Pico’s travel quotes in its foreword, which probably coincided with my frame of mind with freedom of the road loaming ahead.

Perhaps they will mean something to you, too.

“…home is something portable that we carry around with us”

“…’wander’ has little to do with crossing borders and getting stamps in one’s passport, and everything to do with stretching the boundaries of one’s perspective and being constantly drawn to challenge. The person susceptible to wanderlust is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.”

“We travel, then, in search of both self and anonymity … and people cannot put a name or tag to us.”

“A man (or woman) never goes so far as when he doesn’t know where he is going.”

“Many of us travel not in search of answers but in search of better questions.”

That last was certainly true of my travels. I found few answers but hundreds of questions.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Autumn Path http://tinyurl.com/mt4uedk I chose this blog today because it made me want to get out and take a walk – and moving is a good thing to help insure this old broad’s ability to continue traveling.

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature | Tagged pat bean, Pico Iyer, Travel, travel essays, wanderllust | 6 Comments »

The Hue of Me

October 19, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Me, in 2009 — Photo by Kim Perrin

Bright, Loud and Hopefully a Bit Sassy

When I was growing up, somebody was always shushing me. I had, still have, a high-pitched voice, and when I get excited about something I get loud. I got excited a lot – and thankfully I still do; and although I’ve learned to moderately moderate my voice, I still get shushed.

It used to hurt to be told that. These days I simply try to tone myself down. For one thing, I have learned that the people who would be my friends accept me despite my flaw. And for another, I’ve learned there is only so much that I can turn down the volume without being so conscious of this flaw that I become a voiceless shell sitting in a corner somewhere.

I think that last part is what made me become a writer. I can be as loud as I want on paper and offend no one’s ears – of course there are other ways to offend and I’ve done those – and still do.

That’s probably why, when faced with the question of what hue describes me, I immediately thought of my tie-dyed T-shirts. And the one I’ve pictured here is the one I wore on my 70^th birthday when I jumped out of an airplane for the first time in my life.

I like being me, even though, like the many-hued T-shirts, I’m a bit on the loud side. Still, if I ever make it back to this earth, I have to admit I want a voice that sounds more like Lauren Bacall’s or Terry Tempest Williams’ than the one I was born with in this life.

Bean Pat: NaNoWriMo http://tinyurl.com/k6oze99 A good blog for anyone thinking about doing NaNo, which I am.

Posted in Journeys, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged colors, hue, loud, pat bean, personality | 4 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Infinite

October 16, 2013 by Pat Bean

Tucson sunset — Photo by Pat Bean

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of dawn.” Henry David Thoreau

Can you feel the passion in this sunset? I can. — Photo by Pat Bean

Sunrises and Sunsets Come in Infinite Colors

An Arkansas pink and purple morning. — Photo by Pat Bean

A Texas dawn. — Photo by Pat Bean

And I love them all — infinitely.

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged henry david thoreau, infinite, sunrises, sunsets | 9 Comments »

Around the World in 80 Days

October 11, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” – Jules Verne

“Energy rightly applied and directed will accomplish anything.” Nellie Bly’s motto.

This time last year I was traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway, and thankfully wasn’t trying to set any records. I took eight days to drive the scenic parkway’s 469 miles. — Photo by Pat Bean

Or 44 Hours and Six Minutes

Jules Verne believed, back in the early 1870s, that transportation had progressed to the point that a man could travel around the world in less than three months. His fictional character, Phileas Fogg, proved it – in the author’s classic novel, “Around the World in 80 Days,” which is one of my favorite travel books.

Nellie Bly as she began her record-setting 1889 around-the-world trip. — Wikimedia photo

In reality, in 1985, famed female reporter Nellie Bly, also known as Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman, put Fogg’s record to the test – and beat it. Her around the world adventure was accomplished in 72 days and six hours. Nellie’s one of my favorite travelers.

But Bly didn’t hold the record for long, and over the years the days dwindled to just hours for a complete circumvention of the globe. The record, as a passenger on scheduled airline flights, for the around-the-world trip, was set in 1980 by David Springbett. With the help of the supersonic Concorde, he made the trip in 44 hours and six minutes. The record still stands.

While I would love to follow in Fogg’s or Bly’s footsteps, Springbett’s is a bit too fast for me. There would be no time to enjoy the journey.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this around the world thing, perhaps because I’m caught up in reading the adventures of three 28-year-old New York career women who took a year off to travel the world. The book is called “The Lost Girls,” and it’s by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner.

If you’re into travel books by adventurous women, I’m sure you will like this one.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Ordinary People http://tinyurl.com/mcuwn5s They don’t exist.

Posted in Journeys, Travel | Tagged Around the World in 80 Days, jules verne, Nellie Bly, pat bean | Leave a Comment »

Dove on a Wire

October 10, 2013 by Pat Bean

“How come the doe gets to be the peace symbol? How about the pillow? It has more feather than the dove, and it doesn’t have that dangerous beak.” – Jack Handy

A white-winged dove that watched Pepper and I take a walk this morning. — Photo by Pat Bean

Just Pondering?

Even John James Audubon depicted a crow as looking a little wicked. Don’t you agree.

Why is a crow seen as evil and a dove seen as pure? Who made this decision? As a passionate bird-watcher, I enjoy watching crows as much as doves. Maybe even more, because crows are smarter.

And why is a group of doves called a flight and a group of crows a murder?

Posted in Birds | Tagged crows, pat bean, white-winged dove | 4 Comments »

The Highways of Life

October 8, 2013 by Pat Bean

Oops! I think I turned wrong somewhere. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to reach my destination.” — Jimmy Dean

Should I Turn South — Or West?

Have you ever felt that you knew exactly where you were going, and then suddenly discovered you were headed in the wrong direction?

Should I hike the high trail or the low trail? Perhaps I should do both. — Photo by Pat Bean

This happens to me a lot. And I’m not talking about making a wrong turn when traveling down the road – although I certainly do that a lot, too.

Life has taken me down many paths, some not so pretty, but all educational. Some paths presented themselves because of decisions I made – or didn’t make, which in itself is a decision. Some were made for me because I let someone else lead.

Today, the only person who takes the lead away from me is my canine companion, Pepper – when I take her for a walk. So I have no one to blame for where I end up than myself.

But lately, I’ve not been quite so sure that I’ve been heading in the right direction, although there is certainly nothing wrong with the path I’m on. Perhaps it’s just because life has taught me that the more paths I explore, the more I enjoy life.

I guess I’m one of those people who believe Ursula K. Le Guin’s quote – which is permanently on my blog site — “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters.”

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Life in Edit Mode http://tinyurl.com/kk6hmhz I laughed at the cartoon, and am now thinking, as I’m at the final rewriting process of Travel with Maggie, which has come down to the nitty-gritty dotting of every I and crossing of every T, that I need just such a muse.

Posted in Journeys, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged decisions, highways of life, pat bean, Ursula K. Le Guin | 6 Comments »

Soapbox Rant

October 5, 2013 by Pat Bean

“I rant, therefore I am.” – Dennis Millier

On the other hand, “Computers and the Internet have made it really easy to rant. It’s made everyone overly opinionated.” – Scott Weiland

This photo has nothing to do with this blog. I just needed a piece of Mother Nature to remind me that the world is beautiful. — Photo by Pat Bean

A Disney Decision

I’ve been angry all week about our incompetent elected leaders who aren’t intelligent or caring enough to keep the government operating. Perhaps they’re telling us we can do without them.

But just thinking about politics makes my blood pressure jump, which is why I didn’t need to read that Disney is taking an action that would personally affect my severely autistic granddaughter. It also made my blood pressure soar.

Instead of allowing disabled children to jump ahead in lines, Disney will now give them a return time for the ride. While that may be fine for many, it’s not for my granddaughter and others like her, who don’t understand the concept of wait, and who aren’t calm when having to wait. For them, this is a travesty.

But it’s not Disney that I blame. I blame the thousands and thousands of people who have fraudulently taken advantage of this perk, which is the reason for Disney’s decision to change it.

These are the same people who fraudulently use handicapped parking spaces, cheat on their taxes, play hooky from work by saying they are sick when they are not, and who wouldn’t return money to the person they saw drop it. If something benefits them, and they can get away with it, then they do it.

And in the end, everyone pays the price.

Not only have we been setting bad examples for our children, it’s these same children who grow up to be our country’s leaders.

Bean’s Pat: This helped to calm me down. I do dream and I do imagine: http://tinyurl.com/dgmokv

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

This Bird’s Not a Wizard

September 30, 2013 by Pat Bean

This great photo of a Merlin in pursuit of a blue jay was taken by John Harrison who put it up on Wikimedia.

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Yet I Think It’s Magical

I had been seeing this dark bird shape flash overhead for several days, but hadn’t got a good enough look to identify it. Solving the mystery of what bird I’m observing is part of my bird-watching passion.

A close up look at a merlin. — Wikimedia photo

It was mourning dove size, but it flew nothing like a dove. I thought it flew like a hawk but it was too small for the Cooper’s hawks that have been keeping the apartment complex company all year.

The brief glimpses I had of the bird were tantalizingly frustrating. It would fly overhead past me, and by the time I looked up after seeing its shadow, it had disappeared into the trees.

Merlins, before they grew up and became majestic birds of prey. — Wikimedia photo

Finally a few mornings ago, as I sat drinking my cream-laced coffee and watching dawn break, I identified it as a merlin. It whizzed past my third floor balcony at eye level, probably after one of the small song birds that had been flitting around waiting to catch the morning sun, too.

Merlins are not year-round residents of the Tucson area, but they do migrate through and winter here, according to my birding field guide. Since I haven’t seen the merlin in the past couple of days, and since it’s not yet winter, I suspect it was just passing through on its way farther south.

With all the small birds around the complex, it probably decided this was a good place to fuel up. Merlins, according to Cornell University’s ornithological web site, rely on speed and agility to hunt their prey. The merlins often hunt by flying fast and low, using trees and large shrubs to take prey by surprise. While they actually capture most birds in flight, they will also tail-chase a bird to catch it.

. While not a lifer, I’ve only been able to identify this member of the falcon family a few times. But bird experts say the merlin is becoming more numerous in urban areas, so perhaps there are more “magical” merlin sightings in my future.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Ian Butler Photographer http://tinyurl.com/ledqorr Great photo of a dunlin for all you birders out there.

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Nature | Tagged bird watching, birds of prey, falcons, merlins, pat bean | 4 Comments »

September in the Rear View Mirror

September 27, 2013 by Pat Bean

“You know, people talk about this being an uncertain time. You know, all time is uncertain. I mean it was uncertain back in – in 2007, we just didn’t know it was uncertain. It was – uncertain on December 10th, 2001. It was uncertain on October 18^th, 1987, you just didn’t know it.” – Warren Buffet

I want to think of September as the beginning of my favorite time of year — but now I know it has to be shared with 9/11. — Photo by Pat Bean

I Let the Month Pass Purposely

Nine/Eleven: A word that once was only the numbers one called in an emergency. Now, 9/11 has become a synonym for pain, anger, tragedy, loss, and images of two toppling towers, a violated Pentagon, and a plane crash in which both villains and heroes died.

The first sign of autumn from my balcony window. — Photo by Pat Bean

Perhaps that is why I’m suddenly realizing I lost what has always been my best month of the year, the one that ushers in my favorite season of the year, autumn. I realized my loss when I wrote down the date in my journal this morning and the unthinking passage of time was hammered into my brain.

It’s not unusual for me to let time slip by too fast without thought, but this feels different. I saw people blogging about the terrorist attack earlier this month, and decided both not to read those blogs, not to think about their content, and certain not to write a similar one of my own .

I was a newspaper city editor on that fateful day back in 2001, and the job had immersed me in giving local meaning of the tragedy event to the paper’s 65,000 readers. I had followed up the next year in overseeing and writing a memorial series on 9/11.

Enough was enough, I had thought this year when I thought to ignore the day. I want my cup to be half full not half empty. I want to remember happier days. And so I let September slip me by.

But now I’m remembering, and as I write this my eyes are becoming moist. I guess I wasn’t meant to forget.

The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: At least this blogger kept his eyes open to the joys of September http://tinyurl.com/ma4mmeq

Posted in Journeys, Nature | Tagged 9/11, autumn, pat bean, Warren Buffet | 8 Comments »

Beautiful and Thorny

September 24, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr

Pink and yellow and thorny. — Photo by Pat Bean

It’s a Good Combination

When you’ve reached the seventh decade of life, you begin to notice patterns: The sun comes up and goes down every morning, even if its hidden by clouds; women are attracted to men with a bit of wildness in their character — and then expect to tame them; and being too nice a person usually means one ends up getting taken advantage of even by good people.

How many times have you been pricked by a rose bush thorn? — Photo by Pat Bean

The latter is because people treat us the way we allow them to treat us. It took me way too long to discover this fact.

But I finally noticed that prickly people – I’m not talking cantankerous or mean here – get along well in life. Perhaps it’s because most of us prefer a bit of spice instead of too much sugar. If I hadn’t been so intent on ignoring everything about my mother for so long, I might have come to this conclusion much earlier in life. She could be a bit snarly at times yet, I was astonished to see, my kids adored her.

This prickly business seems to be a natural part of life, especially when it comes to nature. Some of the most beautiful flowers have thorns. I wonder if that’s to protect them, or to make us work a bit to enjoy them.

That’s another thing the years have taught me. Nature has a lot of good advice to give if I will just open my eyes to see it, and my mind to accept it.