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May 11, 2013 by Pat Bean

Walks by the Water

Water and birds often go together, just one more reason I like walking beside water. I found this great egret at the Sea Center in Lake Jackson, Texas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Water and birds often go together, just one more reason I like walking beside water. I found this great egret at the Sea Center in Lake Jackson, Texas. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock

Wet Your Eyes and Drink in the Ripples

I’ve been told that a monsoon is coming to Tucson soon. It’s hard to imagine as I pass by dry gullies and creek beds — and even rivers with nary a drop of water to be seen.

sight.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Lakes, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Standing Above the Virgin River in Zion

May 8, 2013 by Pat Bean

             I rate enthusiasm even above professional skills.” – Sir Edward Appleton

To enjoy the view from above, one first has to get to the top of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. -- Photo by Pat Bean

To enjoy the view from above, one first has to get to the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. — Photo by Pat Bean

Weekly Photo Challenge: Above

My enthusiasm to get to the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park every year on my birthday was motivated by my belief that if I could make it, I could handle anything the next year threw at me.

My immediate reward, however, was a view of the Virgin River and the winding canyon below, where birds flew below me and  people were dwarfed to bug size.

It was an exhilarating experience made even more awesome one year when a pair of peregrines flew below the edge of the ridge. For the first time I got to view the back of these falcons and not just their bellies as they flew.

I suspected the pair was nesting below in the rocks, an occurrence that closes down Angel’s Landing to rock climbers every year. I also suspected that the rock climbers had an even more exhilarating enthusiasm for the view from above after their strenuous efforts to get to the top.

It’s been a few years since I stood on top of Angel’s Landing.  Thankfully, since my children are grown and I’m now into the joys of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, life isn’t throwing me as many curves as it did in my earlier years.

So walking my canine companion, Pepper, up and down three flights of stairs for her four daily walks, has become my motivating challenge to keep me in shape to handle life’s more difficult moments.  But who knows. These efforts might get me into good enough shape that I might once again stand on the top of Angel’s Landing for yet one more view from above.

Ahh! I made it! -- Photo by Pat Bean

Ahh! I made it! — Photo by Pat Bean

            Bean’s Pat:  Wild Junket: http://tinyurl.com/buy5x2e Take an armchair exploration of St. Vincent

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

Book Friday: Anne Bishop

May 3, 2013 by Pat Bean

The woods play a big role in the Tir Alainn series by Anne Bishop, so I thought I would illustrate my blog with a couple of my favorite tree photos. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The woods play a big role in the Tir Alainn series by Anne Bishop, so I thought I would illustrate my blog with one of  my favorite tree photos. — Photo by Pat Bean

Across bridges and into the woods, just like in "Shadows and Light." -- Photo by Pat Bean

Across the bridge  and into the woods, just like in “Shadows and Light.” — Photo by Pat Bean

            “The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” – Albert Einstein

I  Kept Turning Pages

I’m a bit groggy today. It could be because I stayed up way too early – like until around 3 a.m. – to finish reading Anne Bishop’s “Shadows and Light,” the second in her Tir Alainn trilogy.

I only discovered Anne last month when I was browsing the science fiction and fantasy section of the local library. I’m always looking for good fantasy books and new authors. And after I had read the first in this series, “The Pillars of the World,” I was hooked on Anne.

The  main characters are the Fey and Witches – and strong women. What’s so fun about the creativity allowed in fantasy writing is that Anne’s characterization of Witches and the Fey are quite different from how other authors portray them.

It reminds me of the many different King Arthur versions floating around out there. My all time favorite is Mary Stewart’s Merlin series that begins with “The Crystal Cave,” published in 1970. I was a big fan of Mary long before that, hooked on her historical fiction, with mystery thrown into the mix.” I think I read just about everything Mary ever wrote, including “Nine Coaches Waiting, “My Brother Michael” and Moonspinners.

Just thinking about Mary makes me want to go and revisit some of her work, particularly the Merlin books.  But then there’s also my desire to read Anne’s third book in the Tir Alainn trilogy, “The House of Gaian,” – and her other books as well. I find that if I like one book by an author, I usually like their almost everything they write.

I wonder how much sleep I really need?

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

  Bean’s Pat: Life’s Total Immersion http://tinyurl.com/c23slef This blogger better expressed some of my own thoughts about why I like fantasy.

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Morning Walk with Pepper

May 2, 2013 by Pat Bean

         “Adventure is not outside man; it is within.” — George Eliot

Think all doves do are coo. This white-winged species has a nest in a tree that I walk beneath and screeches loudly at me every time I walk past. -- Photo y Pat Bean

Think all doves do are coo? This white-winged species has a nest in a tree that I walk beneath and screeches loudly at me every time I walk past. — Photo y Pat Bean

Letting my Mind Wonder as My Legs Wander

            I’m recovering nicely from my broken ankle, but still not up to the adventure of a trail hike. Instead I have to get my kicks from walking on level ground. Mostly, on the four daily 15-20 minute walks I take with Pepper around the apartment complex, she and I retrace the same territory over and over.

Pepper off on one of her scent trails. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pepper off on one of her scent trails. — Photo by Pat Bean

But each walk is different because of the people we meet along the way, a suddenly blooming plant, an old sight seen in a new way, the variety and activity of birds at the time, and always the varying thoughts in my head.

My best and brightest or most absurd and ridiculous ideas bounce through my brain like a ball in a pinball machine when I’m walking.

Pepper, who sniffs every twig, every new flower and urine bulletin board messages left behind by her doggie colleagues, always adds a layer of fun to the walks.

This one little flower in a big pot seems awfully lonely/ == Photo by Pat Bean

This one little flower in a big pot seems awfully lonely/ == Photo by Pat Bean

So far she’s never met another canine or human whom she didn’t like, although thankfully she’s come to know which four-footed and two-footed beings don’t want anything to do with her, and has learned to sit quietly by my side while they pass.

Dogs, I’ve come to believe, have much better instincts than we humans

But a smile or a tail wag from any of our apartment neighbors is enough to make her deliriously happy and playful. She is forever bringing smiles to my face.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Like a moment from Midsomer Murders: http://tinyurl.com/d2rrved  A First of May sunrise. I suspect the reference to Midsomer Murders is because there is always one village celebration or another taking place in the English TV mystery series, which is one of my favorite shows. The blog’s title is what caught my attention, but the photo is awesome.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Dogs, Nature | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Culture

April 30, 2013 by Pat Bean

  “If we are to achieve a richer culture rich in contrasting value we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.” – Margaret Mead

Clearly these figures located at the Chinatown Center in Austin, Texas. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Clearly these figures located at the Chinatown Center in Austin, Texas. — Photo by Pat Bean

What Culture? Who’s Culture?

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            I found this week’s topic confusing. Culture has many meanings, and some of those I think depend on personal interpretations.

A doctor might think of cultivating a bacteria, while a farmer thinks of cultivated land. Are we talking about culture as being educated, or as how it relates to an ethnic group. Or simply an  everyday existence shared by people who live close together and share the same values?

The culture of  people who live by the sea and make their living fishing would be quite different from a group of apartment dwellers who take the train into work every morning.

Since I couldn’t decide what would best exemplify culture, I just picked a couple of photos to share that I liked and that I think represent two diverse cultures.

Bean’s Pat: A Record-Breaking Birding Day  http://tinyurl.com/bv7s7sv 294 Texas species in 24 hours. This one is for the birders among my readers. It’s from the Cornell University Ornithological blog. Anybody here ever seen or read “A Big Year?  Great book, good movie!.

 

Posted in Birds, Books, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Bull Snot!

April 27, 2013 by Pat Bean

I've seen the Pacific from Maine' coast ... -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’ve seen the Atlantic Ocean from Maine’ coast … — Photo by Pat Bean

“I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.” Oscar Wilde

“A word to the wise ain’t necessary – it’s the stupid ones that need the advice.” Bill Cosby

 

You Shouldn’t Always Follow Advice

I’ve wanted to use the phrase bull snot for a long time. I translate it as meaning: “Ha, you’re wrong,” but more dramatically.

And the Pacific Ocean from California's coast ...

And the Pacific Ocean from California’s coast …

I came across the perfect instance this morning when I read an article called “The Biggest Blunders New Retirees Make” from U.S. News and World Report. I name the source so you’ll know it wasn’t written by some fly-by-the-seat-of-his/her-anus.

If I had followed most of the advice in the article, I wouldn’t have had the awesome life I lived for the past nine years.

Don’t jump the gun into a new life, the writer recommended. I jumped. Bought an RV two weeks before I retired, quickly sold my home and took off for the road. It was something I had dreamed of doing almost my whole life and I wasn’t about to delay it one more minute.

I also didn’t take the article’s advice to wait until I had accumulated more money than I could have in another lifetime, and by ignoring the advice not to spend too much on travel and hobbies.

The only financial advice I had followed was that I did make sure I had adequate health insurance before I took off.

My financial solution to limited money was to downscale my wants and needs, and come up with the least amount I would eventually need to live on when I quit the road, and then try to make the rest last for as long as I could.

And now I'm watching the desert bloom -- because I didn't follow anyone's advice. -- Photo by Pat Bean

And now I’m watching the desert bloom — because I didn’t follow anyone’s advice. — Photo by Pat Bean

Having recently traded in my nine-year road life (well I still have my RV,  and a few trips left in me) for a small apartment in a nice area of Tucson, I think I succeeded in that.

But then I broke yet another piece of advice in doing it. Don’t move where you don’t know anyone, the article said.

Except for one daughter, who lives on the other side of town, I didn’t know anyone else in Tucson when I settled here in January.  I use the past tense in saying that because I’ve already made friends, and I find starting my whole life anew energizing and fun.

But then I’m me and not you. The article’s advice might actually be good for some of you. Just don’t lose your dreams over the wrong advice.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Why Blog? http://tinyurl.com/ccfzx3j I sometimes ask myself this question, and this blogger answered most of them.

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , | 16 Comments »

What Makes a Perfect Day

April 26, 2013 by Pat Bean

            “If  you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.” — Jim Valvano

The Difference a Half Century Makes 

It's got to be a perfect day if I get to go out birding with old friends. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It’s got to be a perfect day if I get to go out birding with old friends. — Photo by Pat Bean

A perfect day at 24 and at 74 is like two different worlds. In one I would be rafting down the Colorado, and making mad, passionate love under the stars with a soul mate that night.

In the other, I would be happy to have just met my writing goal for the day and to have learned or seen something new.

Watching an awesome pink and purple sunrise and a fiery orange and red sunset would be included in both worlds, however, as would be a good book to read, a nice stiff Jack and Coke (well it would have been a Virgin Coke in the first world because I didn’t drink until I was 37) before a gourmet dinner that someone else cooked.

And seeing birds, like this California quail only makes the day more perfect -- is that even possible? -- Photo by Pat Bean

And seeing birds, like this California quail only makes the day more perfect — is that even possible? — Photo by Pat Bean

A perfect day would also include feeling loved, which is easy at 74 but was nigh impossible at 24.

The truth is I’ve had many days I would consider perfect – and the closer to 74 I became the more abundant they’ve become. Hmmmmm?

Sure it would  be grand to tackle the Mighty Colorado through the Grand Canyon as the lead paddler in a six-person raft once again, but that’s something I’ve had to accept my 74-year-old body isn’t up to doing.

The end of  all my days on the river were all perfect days, but for some odd reason I find today’s  mellower activities  have a way of leaving me content and satisfied with my life in a way that I never was at 24.

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

Bright and Bold and Brassy

April 26, 2013 by Pat Bean

” Live Life as an exclamation, not an explanation!” — Unknown

Life as an exclamation is how I saw this northern cardinal.

Life as an exclamation is how I saw this northern cardinal.

Today’s Illustrated Journal Page

I came across the above quote early this morning and immediately jotted it down in my newly started art journal. Ideas for illustrating it flowed through my head all morning, and then I thought of the beautiful, cheery northern cardinal.

The two just seemed to fit.

It was a quick draw and watercolor job — 15 minutes — in which I went for boldness and not perfection. I think the fellow is a little humpbacked.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Red Rock Hike  http://tinyurl.com/a63twt2  My broken ankle is still not up to trails, so for now I’ll just have to do them from an armchair. But then this also brought back memories because I’ve taken a few hikes in the Sedona area. Catch one if you can.

Posted in Art, Birds, Journeys | Tagged , , | 7 Comments »

An Illustrated Journal

April 24, 2013 by Pat Bean

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh

It was supposed to be 30 cats. -- Pat Bean

It was supposed to be 30 cats. — Pat Bean

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” Pablo Picasso

The Goal to Not Take Art so Seriously

Before I became a writer — which I accept that I I was at the age of 25 forward, but didn’t acknowledge until I thought I was skilled enough at the age of 50  — I also wanted to be an artist.

A voice inside me said you can’t do both – silly voice. Occasionally over the years I ignored the voice and did a few paintings, most of which I threw away or which ended hanging up in the homes of children, whom I assumed only said they liked them because they loved me.

002          And that’s probably true. Although I have to admit, I do know viewing art is like reading. What one person loves another can just as easily hate. Neither writing nor art is like math, in which two and two always add up to four.

Recently I’ve had the urge to keep an illustrated journal just as I do a daily written one. To that end I was reading Carla Sonheim’s “Drawing Lab,” which is about making art fun. The first exercise was to get in bed and draw 30 cats.

I got bored after six, which is how my journal page “Six Cats” evolved. I do so love color and I had to fill the page with something.

The next page in my daily art journal is a collage. My three youngest grandchildren made me large homemade cards for my birthday. I adored them, but really didn’t want to begin cluttering up my small apartment with this kind of thing.

I didn’t have the heart, however, to throw them away. So I snipped bits and pieces from all three of the cards and created the collage you see here. I added the photo of J.J. because he gave it to me on my birthday.

Since it took me 25 years of writing before I could call myself a writer, I’m certainly not ready to call myself an artist – and might never be.

But I am having fun.        

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

    Bean’s Pat: An old tale  http://tinyurl.com/ajhdxkw More is not always best.

Posted in Art, Books, Journeys | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments »

Every Day Should Be Earth Day

April 22, 2013 by Pat Bean

        “Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves – or whether it should be ours here and now and on this Earth.” —Ayn Rand

            “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different. – Kurt Vonnegut

I've never seen a picture of me taken in Mother Nature's playground where I'm not smiling. -- Photo by Kim Perrin.

I’ve never seen a picture of me taken in Mother Nature’s playground where I’m not smiling. — Photo by Kim Perrin.

            “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life.” – Rachel Carson

            “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and … our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” Wendell Berry

I’m a Tree Hugger

I don’t get on my soap box every day to tell you this, but today is Earth Day and I decided it was a day to let it all out. I really am a tree hugger.

Sometimes, as I was driving in Gypsy Lee, Mother Nature demanded I stop and look at her. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Sometimes, as I was driving in Gypsy Lee, Mother Nature demanded I stop and look at her. — Photo by Pat Bean

I want to scream curses at people who dirty this planet with war and hate, people who take from the land without giving back, and nasty litterers who offend the senses of all who appreciate beauty.

As one who has traveled this country from coast to coast and border to border, I can truly tell you that nary a day on the road did I not see the beauty all around me. Perhaps it was the way a small stream flowed downhill laughing all the way, or the sudden appearance of a white-tailed deer as it stepped out of the woods.

No artist can capture the majesty of a purple and pink sunrise or a fiery desert sunset like Mother Nature gifts us with so very often. No architect can build a structure that matches the majestic grandeur of mountains.

Being born in Texas’ flatlands I didn’t see my first mountain until I was 14, but from that day forward the sight of these uplifted landscapes have never failed to touch my soul.

Wouldn't you stop and look, too? == Photo by Pat Bean

Wouldn’t you stop and look, too? — Photo by Pat Bean

I’ve used the beauty of this Earth often to let go of stress and tension, which when I was a working journalist, helping put out a daily newspaper on deadline, were daily annoyances.

I’ve walked in nature when I was sad, and when I was happy, and when I just needed to be renewed.

I’ve often wondered how people handled daily life without the help of Mother Nature to walk beside them. I suspect the psychopaths who kill, murder and rape must be among them because I can’t imagine people who truly love this Earth and Mother Nature would ever be so cruel

My heart fully celebrates this special day. But then I think every day should be Earth Day.

          

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

  Bean’s Pat: Look on the bright side of life http://tinyurl.com/c4587du If this doesn’t make you smile you’re a real grump.  

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

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