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February 6, 2013 by Pat Bean

Sunrise and a Pair of Cooper’s Hawks

“The grand show is eternal It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling, vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in turn, as the round earth rolls.” – John Muir

First I saw the sunrise ... -- Photo by Pat Bean

First I saw the sunrise … — Photo by Pat Bean

A morning couldn’t get any better 

And then I saw one hawk ... -- Photo by Pat Bean

And then I saw one hawk … — Photo by Pat Bean

           I was sitting at my computer, drinking my cream-laced Sumatran coffee and wondering what I was going to blog about today when my phone chimed that I had just received a text message.            “Shhh. Come look,” my neighbor Betty Ann had written.

And so, quietly, I stepped out onto my third-floor balcony and was greeted with a blooming-pink sunrise that brought cheer to my soul. Beautiful, I thought, but why did I have to be quiet to see it.

And then I heard a throaty kek-keky-kek coming from a tall tree in the courtyard.

... and then I saw the second Cooper's hawk. -- Photo by Pat Bean

… and then I saw the second Cooper’s hawk. — Photo by Pat Bean

Not one, but two hawks, were sitting among the branches. I quickly, and quietly, stepped back inside and grabbed my camera.

From their rusty-red breasts, I thought I was looking at a couple of red-shouldered hawks, but a few minutes later, when I put my binoculars on them, I realized they were Cooper’s hawks. While both birds of prey have streaked red breasts, their head shapes and the rest of their coloring is quite different.

I’m hoping the pair will build a nest in that tree. What a daily bird-watching adventure I will have if they do. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Hiking the Colorado Trail http://tinyurl.com/b2tqg2l I love hiking trails, but for the next month or so my broken foot is keeping me off them. Perhaps that’ why I so enjoyed my arm-chair hike this morning with this Fabulous 50’s blogger.

Posted in Birds, Favorite Hikes, Journeys, Nature | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Pepper has no favorites

February 5, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” Maya Angelou

Mind Triggers

The sight that greeted me when I looked up from the computer. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The sight that greeted me when I looked up from the computer. — Photo by Pat Bean

            I was just completing yesterday’s blog about Willie Nelson, when I looked up from the computer and saw my canine companion, Pepper, grinning from ear-to-ear as she sat in the middle of a devastated stuffed cat.

The dead cat. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The dead cat. — Photo by Pat Bean

I couldn’t do anything but smile. The toy had been on sale at PetSmart, and I had bought it for her, knowing full-well I would pay the clean-up consequences.            And then Willie’s quote about bigoted people not being his friend popped into my wondering-wandering mind, and I laughed, and continued laughing as I picked up the stuffing from every room in my small apartment.

Pepper is not prejudiced against cats. She’s also destroyed a big stuffed dog, a bear, a raccoon, and several ducks. She even took a bite out of my daughter’s Great Dane’s indestructible dinosaur.

Indestructible was the word my daughter used, even after I warned her that Pepper didn’t know the meaning of the word.

They look so innocent when they're asleep. -- Photo by Pat Bean

They look so innocent when they’re asleep. — Photo by Pat Bean

During Pepper and my first month together, she destroyed three pillows and their pillow cases, two pens (the stain of one which can still be seen on the rug in my RV) a computer cord, half a dozen pairs of socks, two of my daughter-in-law’s flip-flops and just about anything else she could get her teeth into.            Fortunately, she finally learned the difference between things that were hers and things that were mine, well except for socks and these days I blame myself for leaving any within her reach.

In the meantime I, or since I moved to Tucson, also my daughter, keep her supplied with plenty of chew bones, chew toys and occasionally a stuffed animal which can give her days of fun, and me days of picking up stuffing.

But as I said, she’s not prejudiced. She’ll chew up any stuffed animal.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Alastair’s Blog http://tinyurl.com/b4ggr4t How to Wash a Cat. I got great belly laughs from this one. I hope you laugh at it as much as I did. Laughter’s good for the soul. And I’m not prejudiced against cats, just for the record.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Journeys | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments »

The Tao of Willie

February 4, 2013 by Pat Bean

Would you have recognized this photo as being Willie Nelson? I didn't. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Would you have recognized this photo as being Willie Nelson? I didn’t. — Photo by Pat Bean

“I believe in the strength found in being yourself, and don’t give an elephant’s ass about trying to fit in or be normal. There is no normal. There’s only you and me.” – Willie Nelsol
An Unrecognizable Photograph
When I was in Nashville this past fall, I took a backstage tour of the Grand Ole Opry. At one point in the walk-through, the guide stopped at one of the 18 or so dressing rooms and asked if we knew the identity of one of the photos on the wall.

I’m ashamed to say I didn’t, even though it was the photo of one of my favorite musicians.

It was Willie Nelson, whom I spent reading all about yesterday in a little book called “The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in your Heart.” I had picked the book up at the Opry’s gift shop but just now got around to reading it.

The Familiar Willie on the cove of his book written with Turk Pipkin.

The familiar Willie on the cover of his book written with Turk Pipkin.

In the book, Willie talks about a time when he tried to fit in. I’m sure that’s the time when that dressing-room photo was taken because he hasn’t looked that way in years and years.  The book is full of Willie’s wisdom gained over a lifetime, and some funny jokes some of which had me rolling on the floor. Here are a few of my favorite Willie quotes:

“We’re all angels flying too close to the ground.”

 “Above all other things I believe in the universal truth of the Golden Rule.”

 “It’s true. My heroes have always been cowboys …the cowboy way believes that if you do things according to that sense of right, it’ll work out to everyone’s advantage.”

And then these words from Willie that I especially like:

“At the beginning of this book, I wrote that if you love me you are my friend … but there are also exceptions. If you throw trash along the highways or foul our rivers, I’m sorry to say you are not my friend …  If you think that people whose skin is a different color from yours are beneath you, you are particularly not my friend …  And if you mistreat those who are smaller or weaker than you, you are not my friend.”

Machu Picchu. -- Wikipedia photo

Machu Picchu. — Wikipedia photo

Bean’s Pat: Amazing Places to See http://tinyurl.com/an3w7yv Machu Picchu. My arm-chair traveling blog for the day. What an amazing place. Perhaps one day I’ll see it in person. If you have, tell me all about it

Posted in Books, Journeys, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique

February 2, 2013 by Pat Bean

Chitters in 2010 -- Photo by Pat Bean

Chitters in 2010 — Photo by Pat Bean

“Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. You’re able to benefit for the unique viewpoints of others without being crippled by your own judgment.” — Ralph Marston

Chitters

Chitters is a great horned owl that I met back in the 1980s. And yes, he is unique. What other great horned owl twitters – as in chitters@ogdennaturecenter

He became the Ogden (Utah) Nature Center’s mascot when it was determined he couldn’t survive in the wild. But he did fly free for a short time, which is when I first learned about this magnificent bird.

A nature center worker called the newspaper where I was working after Chitters got loose. She was hoping for extra eyes to find him. The article I wrote in response to the plea noted that a female owl had been hanging around the nature center trying to attract Chitters’ attention. She succeeded, and at the first opportunity Chitters made his escape.

“Imagine that female’s surprise,” said the Nature Center’s spokesman, “when Chitters fails to bring her food, as courting males are supposed to do.”

Chitters turned up back at the Nature Center several days later, skinny and much the worse for wear. Perhaps he has progeny flying free over Ogden, or perhaps not.

The photo of Chitters above is one I took of him during a visit to Ogden a couple of years ago. Isn’t he beautiful?

Posted in Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Around the World

February 1, 2013 by Pat Bean

            “Oh the places you’ll go (and the things you will see) … You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose…. Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way” – Dr. Seuss

Planning the Dream

When I set out in Gypsy Lee to see as much of this awesome country as I could, it was at the end of years of dreaming and many months of planning.

"Oh the places you'll go ..." frequently hummed in my head while I was traveling this country in Gypsy Lee. -- Dr. Seuss illustration

“Oh the places you’ll go …” frequently hummed in my head while I was traveling this country in Gypsy Lee. — Dr. Seuss illustration

Now, after almost nine years of on the road living and traveling, I’m beginning to dream once again. This time it’s of a round-the-world trip.My must-stops for such an adventure are: Australia, so I can visit Alice Springs, Uluru and travel across the continent on a train; China, so I can stand on the Great Wall; Portugal, because my great-great-great grandfather was a Portuguese sailor who jumped ship in America; Paris, so I can visit The Louvre; England, so I can see in person some of the settings of the British mysteries that I love to read; Ushuaia; because, well just because; and Zimbabwe, so I can see Victoria Falls.

Several airlines and travel trek companies are willing to help me plan just such a trip, I discovered this morning when I started an Internet search. I even started filling out a travel planner with one of them.

I’m truly hoping life, physically and financially, will allow me my dream. But if not, I’m sure having fun with the planning. It’s another kind of arm-chair travel that I find so fascinating.

If you could take such a trip, where would you go?

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Great Gray Owl http://tinyurl.com/b7o29ac Fantastic photos of a bird that is still on my dream list as I’ve never yet seen one in the wild.

Posted in Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments »

I Hunger for a Kinder World

January 31, 2013 by Pat Bean

            “Man is subject to innumerable pains and sorrows by the very condition of humanity, and yet, as if nature had not sown evils enough in life, we are continually adding grief to grief and aggravating the common calamity by our cruel treatment of one another.” —  Joseph Addison

This photo calms my soul. I needed it today. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This photo calms my soul. I needed it today. — Photo by Pat Bean

Too Bad We Do Not Learn From History

            I’m reading May Sarton’s “House by the Sea,” a journal of a year she spent in Maine with a view of the ocean in the 1970s. In it she talks about the landscape, gardening, writing and simply her thoughts, which include those on how cruel the world has become.

I needed a bit of beauty, too. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I needed a bit of beauty, too. — Photo by Pat Bean

Being of an age, like me, these thoughts included the Vietnam era, and the Mai Lai massacre. If she were writing today, she would, I am sure, have mentioned how history repeated itself with the torture of Iraqi prisoners and all the other horrible events as the world continues too much in the butt-ugly ways of war.            What she might have missed, however, is the butt-ugliness of jokes being played on people for the benefit of the TV viewing audience these days. I watched my grandsons laugh at one of these cruel pranks the other day, one in which I found absolutely nothing amusing. The goal of the hoax was nothing but humiliation of the victim.

How different is this from the bullying that is allowed to go on in schools to the point that victims have committed suicide?

And then two days ago, I picked up the young adult book, “The Hunger Games.” It was a gripping piece of writing that I admit I couldn’t put down. But when I finished it, I had a very bad taste in my soul. For one thing, a book that is all about children killing other children should never be labeled a kids’ book; and for another, the sheepish way in which the fictional population so callously allowed this to happen, even going so far as to bet on the outcome.

I kept waiting for someone to do something. Hopefully the sequels answer this wish, although I’m not sure I will read them to find out. My soul can only stand so much brutality.

The book put me in the mind of the Holocaust, when all that was needed for evil to triumph was for the good to turn their backs and do nothing.

The Pollyanna in me believes, no KNOWS, that the good people in this world outnumber the bad. So when are we going to stand up and holler enough is enough? A good place to start is simply for adults to tell children that there is nothing funny in cruel jokes. You can bet on my grandchildren hearing this from me.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Words of Wisdom http://tinyurl.com/a4s78pp This just seemed like an appropriate blog to accompany today’s soap-box rant.

Posted in Books, Journeys, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments »

The Best Canine Companion in the World

January 30, 2013 by Pat Bean

    “Ever wonder where you’d end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?” – Robert Brault

Pepper, who is sitting in the new arm chair I bought for my new apartment and asking me just why it is that I can't take her for a walk. Thankfully the dog walker I hired until my foot is better arrived a few minutes later.

Pepper, who is sitting in the new arm-chair I bought for my new apartment and asking me just why it is that I can’t take her for a walk. Thankfully the dog walker I hired until my foot is better arrived a few minutes later. — Photo by Pat Bean

My Dog, Pepper

Pepper turned one-year-old December 26, 2012. She adopted me when she was 4 ½ months old and weighed 11 pounds. She weighs in at about 20 pounds these days.

I say she adopted me because I wasn’t looking for a puppy, and I had never known a terrier I wanted to own. Too high-strung and energetic was how I looked at them.

My armchair travels today took me to Ushuaia, where I took a hike on the Martial Glacier. -- Wikipedia photo

My armchair travels today took me to Ushuaia, where I took a hike on the Martial Glacier. — Wikipedia photo

But Pepper, a Scottie-mix or so the SPCA shelter where I got her said, took one look at me, stopped running around with all the other dogs in the enclosure, and made a mad dash toward me.  I was sitting on a bench at the time, observing the animals and looking for a cocker spaniel-mix about two years old. But she hopped into my lap, connected her creamy chocolate eyes onto my blue ones, and in no uncertain terms told me she was coming home with me.            “That’s Kenzie,” the shelter worker said.

I now know what love at first sight means. Of course she came home with me. And on that drive, as I sat in the back seat of my daughter’s car, I decided she wasn’t a Kenzie.”

“So what shall we call you,” I asked her out loud. I went through half a dozen names, and when I said Pepper, she yelped “Yow!” in agreement.

She’s turned out to be the best companion in the whole world. I’m one lucky dog owner.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Climbing in Patagonia: http://tinyurl.com/a9x55qk While stuck in my third-floor apartment with a broken foot, I have to do my traveling via an armchair, the one Pepper’s sitting in above. I found this to be a great hike, and especially loved passing through the haunted and twisted forest.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Dogs, Journeys, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Between the Lines

January 29, 2013 by Pat Bean

            “The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” – Charles Farmer

006

Yesterday’s view from my balcony window. — Photo by Pat Bean

A Full Moon to Start my Day

I stood out on my balcony in my pajamas before dawn yesterday, where I was fully awakened by the morning’s crisp chill air, and wallowed in the beauty of a full moon.

Stepping back inside and grabbing my camera, I came out to capture its glow for future enjoyment. The picture, I decided, was flawed by the utility lines that marred the landscape.

Looking at this picture on my computer again this morning, I still didn’t like the lines that broke up the image. But then a thought struck me about how the photo was a symbol of how so many of us try to live our lives between the lines.

For the first half of my life that meant being perfect, an impossible goal. Thankfully, I’ve learned that not only was I never going to be perfect, deep down I knew I never wanted to be perfect. .

If I thought about it, and I did, the moon was just as awesome with the lines as it would be without them. And with that, one of my favorite quotes popped into my mind.

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen.

Suddenly, I didn’t mind those dookie utility lines as much.

Bean’s Pat: Back on the Possumhaw Trail http://tinyurl.com/bjuznlh You don’t have to be a flower to have beauty. I love Steven’s Blog because I learn the names of plants, and not always just flowers. His photos make even weeds look awesome, although in this case it’s a winter tree.

Posted in Journeys, Wildflowers | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

January 28, 2013 by Pat Bean

A Change in my Blogging Voice

One of the few pieces of art that I did while living in Gypsy Lee. I painted it during a 10-day stay at Zion National Park, which is one of my favorite places to visit.

One of the few pieces of art that I did while living in Gypsy Lee. I painted it during a 10-day stay at Zion National Park, which is one of my favorite places to visit.

      “…The whole part of a journal is to catch events on the wing.” May Sarton

From the Road to at least Temporary Roots

            My dookie beginning to 2013, thanks to the flu-crud and a broken foot, has slowed this wondering-wandering old broad down.

But I was slowing down even before that. Today marks the first day of the second month in which I traded life on the road in a 22-foot RV called Gypsy Lee for a 600-square foot apartment in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains.

A canyon wren that I saw, and painted, in Zion National Park.

A canyon wren that I saw, and painted, in Zion National Park.

I spent almost nine years in Gypsy Lee, which I realized is more time than I lived in any one home with roots in my life. These past years were the culmination of a lifetime of dreams, and I’m proud of myself that I made them come true. They were the ones in which I truly felt I was living the life I was supposed to lead.            I hope travel will continue to be a part of my life, well as soon as my foot heals and lets me once again handle the three flights of stairs up to my apartment. But for now I am enjoying my choice of a temporary home base.

And I can’t help but think that perhaps being slowed down for a while isn’t even going to turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Yes, I’m still a Pollyanna kind of girl who will never give up looking for that rainbow after the storm.

Zion, River Walk 2

My inspiration for my tree and canyon wall painting — Photo by Pat Bean

One of the silver linings to have magically appeared has been Betty Ann, a neighbor who now gives my energetic canine companion, Pepper, her daily four walks. She’s turned out to be a kindred soul, who shares my love of books, writing and animals. If not for her I would either have had to move in with my gracious, Tucson daughter, who is currently doing my laundry and shopping, or sent Pepper home with her until my foot healed. I wasn’t fond of either of those choices.

The second bit of silver is that my forced inside time has me once again dragging out my art supplies. I carried them around with me in Gypsy Lee, but except for a rare occasion they stayed packed away. Now I have room to keep them handy and hope to return to being artsy fartsy, as I call my amateur endeavors. I’m even going to be brave enough to start sharing them with you.

Meanwhile, I’m feeling my way as to what this blog will be all about in the coming year. The best I can tell you is it’s going to be eclectic and “my life on the wing.” Hopefully it will once again be daily as well. I think I have my blogging mojo back. But don’t hold your breath.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Relax – Go with the flow http://tinyurl.com/abhdxpv Since I’m been doing this since breaking my foot, I liked this post for making me feel better about myself.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Art, Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 14 Comments »

January 26, 2013 by Pat Bean

Weekly Photo Challenge: Love

            “The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

My first great-grandchild is just one of the many forms of love that fill my life. -- Photo by Baron Marsh

My first great-grandchild is just one of the many forms of love that fill my life. — Photo by Baron Marsh

I hungered 

            I grew up feeling unloved, not that I actually was, I now realize. It was just that my father was never around, and my mother was overburdened with taking care of my three younger brothers and her own mother while fretting over finances because her husband gambled away his pay checks.

I married young because I thought I had found the first person who ever loved me — and I was convinced no one else ever would. The love proved false, but I hung on far too many years because I still thought no one else would ever love me.  I left when even that alternative was better than what I had.

What happened after that is that I did find love. While not exactly the ever-lasting romantic love I had longed for, I discovered love had many forms. Family, friends, colleagues and love for my job and my life was love.

I consider my passion for writing, for birds, for life a fulfilling kind of love. Seeing my grandchildren grow up and have children of their own is love. The neighbor, like the one I have now who is keeping watch over me while I recuperate from a broken ankle, is an expression of love.

Love fills my world. I’m so glad I finally recognized it.

Bean’s Pat: An Elephant Can’t  http://anelephantcant.me/   This one’s for those who lived through the ‘60s. This is a fun blog I recently came across. Go back a bit and look for the cats.

Posted in Journeys, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments »

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