Pat Bean's blog

Morning Walk With Birds and Words

April 3, 2013 by Pat Bean

Mourning dove — Photo by Pat Bean

If I had things my way, all birds would fly free.

Gambel’s quail — Photo by Pat Bean

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By Maya Angelou

“A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

Gila woodpecker — Photo by Pat Bean

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.”

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Writing | Tagged Birds, gambel's quail, gila woodpecker, Maya Angelou, mourning dove, pat bean | 7 Comments »

John Muir and Margaret Mead

April 2, 2013 by Pat Bean

“A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places.” – I Eberhardt

What I Didn’t Know About Muir

Half Dome from Tioga Pass, a Yosemite landscape Muir spent years seeing. I only saw it for the first time two years ago. — Photo by Pat Bean

I’ve long known about John Muir’s association with Yosemite and his role in creating the Sierra Club, but I knew nothing about the 40.000-mile journey he took when he was 73.

I discovered this when I came across Muir’s unpublished journals and correspondence that provide the contents for the book, “John Muir’s Last Journey: South to the Amazon and East to Africa,” that were collected and edited by Michael Branch.

Upon discovering the book, published in 2001, at my local library, I thought about Margaret Mead’s words that I had once read, and which as a writer have stayed with me through the years. She wrote that perhaps she wasn’t the world’s best anthropologist, but that she was best known because she always wrote down and published her research, beginning with her first book, “Coming of Age in Samoa,” published in 1928 to her 1972 autobiography “Blackberry Winter.”

It impressed upon me the value of keeping journals and writing things down when they were still fresh in the mind.

And a Samoan landscape that Margaret Mead saw but I never did. — Wikipedia photo

Mead also had a lot of other things to say that have influenced me life. For example:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that every has.”

“Always remember that you are absolutely unique, just like everyone else.”

“It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.”

And then there are the words of John Muir, which closely express my feelings about Mother Nature:

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to reading about Muir’s last journey. I think he, Mead and me all identify closely with Eberthardt’s quote about being a nomad.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Long-tailed ducks on Lake Ontario http://tinyurl.com/bolxga5 Great photos

Posted in Books, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged margaret mead, pat bean john muir, samoa, yosemite | 3 Comments »

This Makes Sense to Me

March 30, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.” — Kurt Vonnegut.

Writing Advice

My writing companion, Pepper. She lays on my bare feet when I’m sitting at my computer. — Photo by Pat Bean

I just read an article that said it is better to write tired than not write, especially when working on a major project. The author, I would give credit except I deleted the article and couldn’t find it again, said, if you don’t, then you often have to start at the beginning again.

That’s exactly where I am with my book, Travels with Maggie. I’ve left it untouched way too long, and I’ve got to at least read it again from the beginning.

I also know that writing tired sometimes even turns into really good writing because the brain lets go some of its control. But even if I have to rewrite the next day, the continuity hasn’t been lost.

Now all I need to do is take this advice.

Recent doodling by me. I make a connection between it and Vonnegut’s quote.

The truth is I’ve been doing plenty of writing, the past couple of months. Just not on Travels with Maggie. And I’m at the point that I need to finish it, because I can’t move on to all the other ideas bouncing around in my head until I do.

So what’s stopping me?

I keep trying, so far unsuccessfully, to figure it all out.

Bean’s Pat: I’m giving it to myself today. One of the writing projects I have been working on faithfully is the blog I do for American Profile magazine called Discovering America. I’d love it if you would check it out at: http://blogs.americanprofile.com/author/patbean/

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Art, Journeys, Writing | Tagged American Profile magazine, dogs, Kurt Vonnegut, writing | 6 Comments »

Last Times

March 28, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your head and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.– Steve Jobs

I suspected when I visited Rocky Mountain National Park this past fall that it would be for the last time, which made seeing it all the more precious. — Photo by Pat Bean

Changed Perspective

I was born at a time when southern men thought it was a good think to keep women barefoot and pregnant. I lived that way for a while, mostly because I didn’t know anything different.

And seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains this past fall was a first in my lifetime, I suspect it will also never happen again. — Photo by Pat Bean

And then I sat in front of a television with my children and watched Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and utter the words that have continued to live in my little gray cells: “That’s one step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The words were spoken at a time when forward leaps in my own thoughts and actions were exploding. I had become a working mother in a field – journalism – that exposed me to a larger world than I knew had existed.

I became knowledgeable about Vietnam, body bags, equal rights for women, and equal rights and integration for Blacks. I learned that that life was not fair, which was as devastating to me as learning there was no Santa Claus when I was 10.

But since I now live in the desert, I expect to see many more cactus blooms … Photo by Pat Bean

I struggled, as all caring parents do, to raise my children to be honest, hard-working, contributing members of society. I watched as the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down, and as terrorists, including the ones who lived next door, eroded our sense of security.

Life became easier for me at last, even as I watched it become more difficult for my children and grandchildren. Opportunities and apple pie are harder to come by these days. I stuck in the backdoor of a newspaper without the proper education that even I required when I moved up to being the one who hired reporters.

And then along comes the Internet, which truly has changed everything. I can’t imagine living without it, yet I grieve for all that it has taken away.

… and many more Tucson sunsets — Photo by Pat Bean

Finally, I come to today when I have to accept that there are fewer days ahead of me than behind me. I especially felt it on my cross-country journey this past fall. This will probably be the last time I visit Rocky Mountain National Park, I thought, as I drove Trail Ridge Road through the awesome mountains; probably the last time I’ll ever drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was the same for each of the many sights I experienced on the journey.

Realizing how fast the clock is ticking away has made me look harder at everything, to breathe in each spectacular landscape more deeply, and truly, perhaps for the first time in my life, live in the moment. That’s not a bad thing. Actually it has been rather exhilarating, and certainly has made me more thoughtful.

I got to thinking about precious moments this morning after listening to the Rolling Stones belt out “This Could Be the Last Time.” The musical number was a YouTube video posted on my blog pick of the day. Perhaps you would like to listen, too.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Flickr Comments http://tinyurl.com/brllod2 Maybe the Last Time – but hopefully not.

Posted in Journeys, Nature | Tagged Blue Ridge Parkway, desert, patbean, rocky mountain national park, rolling stones, time, tucson | 12 Comments »

Bookish Wednesday

March 27, 2013 by Pat Bean

“A great book that comes from a great thinker – it is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth, with beauty too.” — Theodore Parker

Mercy Thompson. Briggs’ fictional character, lives in Washington not too far from this view of the Columbia River. — Photo by Pat Bean

Mercy Thompson

I discovered Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series a little over a year ago. It’s an urban fantasy that is normally not one of my favorite genres. While fantasy is one of the genres I read, I’m more into dragons and wizards than werewolves and vampires.

But I was at my older daughter home and looking for something to read.

“Try this,” Deborah said, and handed me “Moon Called.”

Perhaps on a clear day, Mercy can see Mount Rainier. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I doubt I’ll like it,” I said.

“Yes you will. Now read it,” Deborah demanded.

“OK, OK,” I said, thinking I would read a few pages and then go looking for something else in my daughter’s huge library. Instead I ended up staying up until 2 a.m. because I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it.

Briggs’ Mercy, a mechanic with a native American heritage who lives next door to a werewolf, has a vampire friend and can transform herself into a coyote, was a fascinating character whose actions both surprised and delighted me.

The writing was good, the plots complicated, the heroine strong and sassy, and the book had enough depth that it made me both laugh and cry. Within a few weeks, I had read all six of the Mercy Books, which in addition to “Moon Called,” include “Blood Bound,” “Iron Kissed,” “Bone Crossed,” “Silver Borne,” and “River Marked.” I also have now read many of Briggs other books – she’s a prolific writer.

It’s my normal reading scenario when I come across an author who can have me giggling one moment and looking for a tissue the next.

And just now I discovered, while looking up the order of the Mercy Thompson books, that there is a new Mercy Thompson book out, “Frost Burned.”

It’s downloading on my Kindle even as I finish this blog. I suspect it’s going to be a late night again.

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing | Tagged Mercy Thompson, Mt. Rainier, Patricia Briggs, Washington | 12 Comments »

What Makes You Happy?

March 19, 2013 by Pat Bean

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

I Discovered it was Everything and Nothing

In the midst of one of the most unhappy periods of my life, I realized I was a happy person. Not the delightful, delirious, delicious tickling of the inner self when all is right with the world, but the knowledge that a kind of happiness lived within me that no amount of outside sorrow could touch.

This pair of sandhill cranes made my birding passion happy. — Photo by Pat Bean

Although I struggled for weeks to get through the day, I still awoke each morning with a hope, verging on knowledge, that my days would get better. I also realized I still had a zest for life that made me glad to see and appreciate the sunrise and the little details of the day that so often go unnoticed, like the smile of a child or the tiny drop of dew on a yellow rose.

While lingering effects from that difficult period over 30 years ago still occasionally touch my life, and those of people I love, the happiness within, along with my zest for life, have not dulled. In fact, they have only grown.

I wonder sometimes if I’m singularly blessed, or if others also have an inner happiness that cannot be destroyed? As a writer, I’m always observing people, and I have come to a conclusion that while I’m not alone in having this trait, I might be among the minority.

I awake each day with gratefulness in my heart for being so blessed.

Bean’s Pat: I gotta pee http://tinyurl.com/coobdul As a person who tent-camped until she was 65 and bought her RV, Gypsy Lee, this was a blog that brought back many memories and had me laughing out loud.

Posted in Journeys, Lakes, Nature, Travel | Tagged felsenthal lake, happiness, john lennon, pat bean, sandhill cranes | 12 Comments »

Mother Nature Lives in Tucson

March 17, 2013 by Pat Bean

“We are born again each morning. What matters most is this day.” Buddha

Gambel quail skitter about in this landscape. — Photo by Pat Bean

And Makes Me Feel at Home

My apartment has all the conveniences of a city just two blocks away, yet it’s sheltered from traffic noise by trees and a landscaped courtyard, and is bordered on two sides by a natural desert landscape filled with wildlife.

Seed pods against the desert sky.

I see Gambel’s quail skittering between the saguaro and ocotillo cacti and am serenaded by mourning doves, song birds and a great horned owl on a daily basis. A pair of Cooper’s hawks are nesting in a nearby near tree and yesterday morning I spied a bobcat on the edge of the apartment’s parking lot.

Tucson, I’ve discovered, is a place where civilization and Mother Nature coexist better than any other place I’ve ever lived. And here in the city’s Catalina Foothills that I now call home, most buildings have been designed to look like they belong to the landscape.

I truly am falling in love with Tucson.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Life in the Bogs http://tinyurl.com/bwlykyh And speaking of Mother Nature, she lives in Robin’s bog, too.

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature | Tagged bobcats, desert, home, pat bean, tucson | 12 Comments »

Bookish Wednesday

March 13, 2013 by Pat Bean

“I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.” – John Burroughs

This morning's sunrise over the atalina Mountains from my balcony. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This morning’s sunrise over the C atalina Mountains from my balcony. — Photo by Pat Bean

Two Takes on Sherlock Holmes

For the first time in nine years, during which I lived and traveled full-time in a 22-foot RV that I affectionately call Gypsy Lee, I once again have a library card.

The second in the Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell series.

I would have had it much soon if I hadn’t broken my ankle.

After spending some time, unsuccessfully learning how to download audio books on my Kindle, I roamed the small branch library near my apartment and checked out two books. One was Tom Brokaw’s “The Time of our Lives,” which I mentioned in yesterday’s blog. The other was “Murder on the Celtic,” by Conrad Allen, a mystery author I had never read before.

It was an enjoyable afternoon read, a who-dun-it set in the early 1900s. With a little bit of independent research, I discovered that the Celtic was an actual ocean liner operated by the White Star Line between New York and Liverpool. It was a good thing the story took place in 1910 because in 1917 the ship struck a mine off the Isle of Man and 17 people aboard were killed.

Conrad did a good job with bringing the book’s characters to life, including that of Sherlock Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was one of the passengers. I perhaps too easily, however, solved the murder in my head way before the end of the book.

The first in the series a really great read.

A second book I recently read that featured Sherlock Holmes, the character and not the author, was a lot more complex. It was “A Monstrous Regiment of Women” by Laurie King. It is the second of her Sherlock Holmes-Mary Russell books I’ve read — and I loved it. I read the first in the series a while back, “The Beekeepers Apprentice,” and just downloaded an audio version of the third a “Letter of Mary.”

I find King’s Mary Russell books fascinating, and can’t wait to start listening to the latest, and am grateful that there are quite a few more in the series. I might also read another Conrad Allen mystery, too. Perhaps “Murder on the Lusitania,” which is the first in his George Porter Dillman shipboard detective series.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Snowglow http://tinyurl.com/apnc8z7 I love this photo. Looking at it made me sit back in my chair, relax and take a deep breath. .

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

March 13, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” — Harvey MacKay

I dawdled to watch squirrels at a campground. == Photo by Pat Bean

Time Always Runs Out

A few years back I planned a trip to Maine. I left in early May with the goal of reaching the state’s Atlantic Coastline before the puffins, the sandpipers, the plovers and other shore birds migrated south. Too much dawdling along the way made me arrive two weeks too late.

I dawdled to see all the sights along oute 66. — Photo by Pat Bean

It was a missed opportunity that most likely will never come again. At the same time, my dawdling along the way visiting places like Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas, the Budwieser Brewery in Missouri, Wolf Park in Indiana, the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan Niagara Falls in New York and many, many other places along the way were memories made that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss either.

I’ve reached the point in my life when I know that there is more time behind me than ahead of me. Accepting this reality has not made me sad, but it has certainly made me more aware of how fleeting time has become.

I remember when it seemed an eternity for each Christmas to arrive, and now it seems like I’ve barely put away the Christmas decorations before it’s time to get them out again.

I dawdled to watch sunrises. — Photo by Pat Bean

What got me thinking of time was Tom Brokaw’s book “The Time of our Lives: A conversation about America.” He and I are less than a year apart in age, and we both had journalism careers, although his took him on the big stage in front of a camera and mine took me to a smaller stage on the pages of newspapers.

I once got to interview Tom Brokaw when he visited my smaller stage setting, the memories of which came to the forefront this week when I picked up his book and read the things he pointed out in his preface of having lived through – the moon landing, Vietnam, women stepping out of the kitchen and into the working world, civil unrest as black and white cultures integrated, the riots, the prosperity, the stock market fluctuations, the technology takeover, the continuation of war, and the big bang of the internet.

These were the same things I had lived through and wrote about.

Looked at in this way, I guess I know where time has flown. I wonder what is still ahead for me to experience – as I continue my dawdling ways.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel | Tagged journalism, pat bean, time, tom brokaw | 6 Comments »

Nest Sitting Dove

March 11, 2013 by Pat Bean

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

Non-Paying Tenant

A tough little mom-to-be mourning dove. — Photo by Pat Bean

I was at my daughter’s house yesterday, where they had the front door locked so as not to bother the squatter that had taken up residency on the porch.

I forgot about the restriction and took Pepper out the front door for a walk.

The squatter gave us the evil eye but didn’t fly away. And she stayed put when I returned with my camera. It seemed apparent she was unhappy with the intrusion but she steadfastly continued sitting on her eggs.

I can’t wait to see the baby doves.

Posted in Birds, Journeys | Tagged mourning dove. nesting birds, pat bean | 2 Comments »

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