Pat Bean's blog

A Morning Walk with Pepper

March 8, 2013 by Pat Bean

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” — Henry David Thoreau

A view looking east over Tucson from my apartment. – Photo by Pat Bean

Cactus and Birds and Mountains

I finally am out of the heavy, clunky boot I’ve been wearing for almost two months after breaking my ankle.

A lesser goldfinch — Photo by Pat Bean

The doctor said I’m healing well and lifted all restrictions, telling me just to take it easy and go to physical therapy for the next six weeks.

The best part of all this is that I’m now back to taking Pepper on two of her four daily walks. Hopefully by the end of next week it will be all four.

This morning’s walk, meanwhile, was fantastic. Without ever leaving my apartment complex, I got good photos of an impressive saguaro cactus, mountains to the east and west, and a lesser goldfinch.

Of course I wanted to share.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: 29 ways to stay creative http://tinyurl.com/a7guy52 Good ideas, and fun, too.

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Birds, Nature | Tagged henry david thoreau, lesser goldfinch, pat bean, tucson | 12 Comments »

The Color of Heaven?

March 7, 2013 by Pat Bean

“When you squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out – because that’s what’s inside. When you are squeezed, what comes out is what is inside.” – Wayne Dyer

Last night’s sunset as viewed far range from my balcony. — Photo by Pat Bean

And when you squeeze a kid, the truth comes out.

Why it is Orange of Course

My friend Caroline’s 5-year-old grandson told her heaven was orange. She said it took her a while to digest that, but finally she asked “Why?”

“Because red is for fire! And orange happens when day starts and ends.”

“Duh,” she replied, as did I when I heard the explanation.

And last night proved just how right the five-year-old was.

And a zoomed-in closeup five minutes later. It’s my belief that watching sunrises and sunsets is the best way to start and end any day. — Photo by Pat Bean

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: The hummingbirds are coming. http://tinyurl.com/alwd53j One of my favorite bloggers.

Posted in Journeys, Nature | Tagged heaven, pat bean, sunrises, sunsets, the color orange | 13 Comments »

Bookish Wednesday

March 6, 2013 by Pat Bean

“This book is many things – a sketchbook, a journal, an attempt to understand other beings – but it is not a dispassionate recitation of scientific truths about birds. It’s a series of stories that I hope will pull back a curtain on … minds.” – Julie Zickefoose on her book, “The Bluebird Effect”

“The Bluebird Effect by Julie Zickefoose

A Book for Bird Lovers

I’ve long been a Julie Zickefoose fan, mostly through enjoying her art and painting in Bird Watcher’s Digest, in which she was featured almost every month.

One of the watercolors by Julie Zickefoose included in the book.

Being a writer who often sent articles to the magazine on speculation, and who was rejected every time but once — and then my piece, after being accepted, was killed and not run although I did get a kill fee – I was jealous.

Then I learned that Julie was married to the magazine’s editor and I felt a bit better. She had an in that I didn’t. That’s not to say Julie’s work wasn’t worth of being in the magazine every month. I often thought it was the best piece of work in the Digest.

And I was thrilled when I discovered she had written a book, “The Bluebird Effect.” It became the very next book I bought. I buy, if you hadn’t guessed, about a half-dozen books a month, and read those and about a half-dozen more as well.

Julie’s book didn’t disappoint. Her art work, from quick sketches to colorful and detailed watercolors provided a delightful and enlightening look at birds and nature.

If, like me, you like birds and art, then I bet you will love this book.

Bean’s Pat: Julie Zickefoose http://tinyurl.com/d7w9vud Great blog. And it just seemed appropriate to share more of this artistic writer’s awesome work.

Posted in Books, Journeys | Tagged "The Bluebird Effect, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birds, books, pat bean. julie zickefoose | 3 Comments »

A Pair of Mourning Doves

March 6, 2013 by Pat Bean

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

My neighbor, knowing I’m a passionate birder, called me yesterday afternoon and simply said: “”Go out on your balcony and look to your left.”

I did. And below is what I saw. Aren’t they cute?

A pair of mourning doves. These birds get their name from the mourful wooing-cooing sound they make. They are this country’s most common dove.

It pays to let others know what you want in life, especially if it’s seeing birds. I would have missed this wonderful sight if not for my thoughtful neighbor.

Posted in Birds, Journeys | Tagged bird watching, mouring doves, pat bean | 9 Comments »

A Desert Landscape of Balloons and Cacti

March 4, 2013 by Pat Bean

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I wondered if this balloon was going to get high enough to miss the wires. It did. — Photo by Pat Bean

Adjusting to a New Life

After exiting, but not abandoning, my nine-year RV home, Gypsy Lee, in an apartment complex parking lot, I wondered if I had chosen the right place to put down a few roots.

Balloons are a familiar sight over Tucson. — Photo by Pat Bean

I was still remembering how claustrophobic I had felt after purchasing my last rooted home back in Ogden, Utah, in which I had spent seven years before moving into Gypsy Lee.

Right up until the last few months, when this old body decided it needed a bit more space and a few conveniences Gypsy Lee didn’t have, I never felt more at home than I did when traveling across this beautiful country. The road truly felt like home and the place I should be.

I had thought when I retired that I would have about five years on the road before I would need to settle down again. I almost doubled that. I also thought that I would find a place that would call out to me as being my next home. It never did.

I suspected I would end up in my native Texas, where most of my children and grandchildren live, and started looking, and continued doing so for almost a year. I found nothing that met my requirements – nice, dog friendly, large bath tub, light and airy, and near town conveniences but with a place to walk – that either appealed to me or was in my measly price range.

When I started looking in Tucson, where my youngest daughter lives and where I was headed to spend this past Christmas, I found what I had been looking for instantly, with the bonus of it being located at the foot of the Catalina Mountains.

But almost as soon as I had moved into my new, small, third-floor apartment, I broke my foot and also began having doubts if I had made the right decision.

A pair of Cooper’s hawks nesting in a tree in one of the apartment’s courtyards helped convince me — I’m a passionate birder — that I had, as did the beautiful view I have of Mount Lemmon to the north and the beautiful sunrises that have brightened almost all my mornings.

I never thought I would live in the desert and like it. But I’m slowly beginning to think of Tucson as home.

I’m especially enjoying a landscape where giant saguaro cacti — including one here at the apartment that is home to a pair of Gila Woodpeckers – dominate the landscape, and where it is not unusual to look up and see hot air balloons gliding by.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Basil the Hippo http://tinyurl.com/cq9x969 I fell in love with this story – and Basil.

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, Travel | Tagged cacti, home, hot air balloons, lifestyle, pat bean, tucson | 11 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Details

March 3, 2013 by Pat Bean

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” Ernest Hemingway.

The Blanco River, Colorado. Notice how the details of light against shadow, hard rocks against flowing water are what make this an appealing picture. — Photo bu Pat Bean

Some Details I Love, Some I Flunk

My RV was parked by the Blanco River pictured above at one of my favorite RV parks. I loved the river but I also loved the little details around the park, like this charming owl painted on a rock that gave the campground character. Photo by Pat Bean

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” – William Morris

I struggled this past three days trying to finish up a magazine writing assignment that required me to stick a lot of facts into only 750 words. In one way it was writer’s block, which thankfully I seldom suffer, but in another way it wasn’t.

This turtle was yet another detail that made the park stand out from the ordinary. — Photo by Pat Bean

While I had a multitude of facts, I knew that it was the little details – the funny, the weird, the human touch – that were missing from my story. Without those, my article was cold, boring and flat. I knew I had to dig some of these out and somehow make them fit into few words.

Finding out the details of a thing, in the same way that Ann Zwinger did in one of my favorite travel books, “Downcanyon,” in which she brought the Grand Canyon down to bug and flower size, is part of why I love being a writer.

I think it’s also why I love birdwatching so much. It’s the little details of eye rings, feet color, head shape, tail length, etc., that allow one to identify a bird. It’s sort of like finding the solution to a mystery book, which is why I enjoy reading mysteries.

On the other hand, the details of daily life, like balancing a checkbook, remembering birthdays, putting everything back in its proper place, proper punctuation, or coordinating errands are details I sometimes flunk.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: A Song for Today http://tinyurl.com/c88458q I started my day with this blog and Fleetwood Mac song. “Go My Own Way.” What I liked best about it was how much fun the band members were having performing it.

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged Colorado RV parks, details, patbean, rock art, weekly photo challenge | 2 Comments »

Bookish Wednesday

February 28, 2013 by Pat Bean

Bookish Wednesday

“The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easing reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.” — Pablo Neruda

Even though it was in the early hours of the morning when I got to sleep last night, I was up in time to take this picture of the moon over Tucson this morning which by the way is not photo-shopped. It's pure Mother Nature at her best. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Even though it was in the early hours when I got to sleep last night, I was up in time to take this picture of the moon over Tucson this morning ,which by the way is not photo-shopped. It’s Mother Nature at her best. — Photo by Pat Bean

The Joy of Finding a New Author

I’m persnickety about the books I read, and it gets worse every year. Mostly I read mysteries, fantasies, travel and memoir. And lately I’ve been having a dry spell of finding books that don’t sound like ones I’ve read before, are well-written (That’s a must for me) and make me think.

I got into fantasy about 10 years ago because there’s room for these stories to surprise me. Two and two doesn’t always have to add up to four when you experience a different world.

Mysteries have always been a favorite because they present a puzzle. I want to be able to arrive at who-done-it before the final page, but not too far before.

Mount McKinley in Denali National Park in Alaska.

Setting and character are also important for me. And I always want to learn something.

I know that’s asking a lot, but I’m been fortunate in finding a lot of authors who do it my way. The problem is that when I find one who does, I go on a reading binge and read just about everything they write. For example, I discovered Blaize Clement’s cat sitter books – light reading but rich in characterization, including the cats and dogs – and read all six of her books in two weeks.

It took me several months to get through Robin Hobbs’ fantasy trilogies, and now I’m impatiently waiting for her fourth book in her Rain Wilds series to be released.

Within the past year, I got turned onto Patricia Biggs’ Mercy Thompson series. This was a brand new fantasy genre for me, as I’ve been more into the classic dragon tales than werewolves and vampires. But I was hooked and once again, in a short time had read everything she had written.

So it was with great delight that I discovered a new author yesterday, Dana Stabenow, who I saw had 21 books in her mystery series featuring Kate Shugat. Staying power, I hoped, was a good indication of good books. I started with Book One, “A Cold Day for a Murder.”

I had my fingers cross when I started reading. I knew I had found a winner when I didn’t put the book down until the wee hours of the morning. The setting is Alaska, and Kate is a gritty character, an Aleut, that fits the wild Alaska park setting. I’m sure I’ll finish the book before I go to sleep tonight – and then I have 20 more to go. Yea!!

“A room without a book is like a body without a soul.” – Cicero

Bean’s Pat Volcano http://tinyurl.com/bk3qk92 While I like this photo, the story behind it is what intrigued me most.

Posted in Books, Journeys, Nature, Travel | Tagged Alaska, dana stabenow, full moon, Kate Shugat, pat bean | 9 Comments »

War on Brown Tree Snakes

February 25, 2013 by Pat Bean

You can still enjoy a beautiful sunset on Guam, but the tropicl island is almost devoid of birds. — Wikipedia photo

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adapable to change.” — Charles Darwin.

What Do You Think?

As a hiker, I’ve seen many a snake, from 27 canyon rattlers in one day in the Grand Canyon to a small coral snake at Texas’ Santa Ana State National Wildlife Refuge that a stupid birder picked up — and of course was bitten.

The brown tree snake that has killed of the birds on Guam.

I’ve always left snakes alone, appreciating their contributions to the ecosystem, especially that of keeping rodent populations in check.

The only exception was a poisonous copperhead that I discovered in my Gulf Coast backyard. That one got chopped into a dozen pieces by the nearby hoe I grabbed because a vision of one of my young children being bitten flashed through my head.

So why would I now rejoice after reading this morning that brown tree snakes, which are not poisonous, are going to be killed by the thousands on Guam?

It’s because since World War II, when these snakes hitched a ride on U.S.planes and ships to Guam, these nasty critters have killed off almost all of the tropical island’s birds. As a passionate birdwatcher, I was infected with a personal vendetta against these slithery critters after visiting Guam a few years back. The silence of the trees, from which a symphony of bird song did not ring,was deafening with the significance of the horror.

The bird sanctuary on Rota where I got to watch birds, including the magnificent red-footed boobies, to my heart’s content.

Thankfully, my daughter, who was living on Guam at the time, treated me to a few days’ stay on the nearby island of Rota. Never had bird song sounded so sweet when it greeted us as we stepped off the plane. It made, however, the lack of birdsong on Guam seem even more tragic.

You can read all about the plans to poison the brown tree snakes with a simple human headache remedy at: http://tinyurl.com/bj3dbhh

I suspect, however, that Guam’s bird population will never recover. But hopefully other tropical islands will be spared the loss of their birds.

What do you think?

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: A discussion for the writers among us http://tinyurl.com/af8mulh And once again I ask: What do you think?

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Nature, Travel | Tagged brown tree snakes, Guam, invasive species, pat bean | 9 Comments »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Forward

February 23, 2013 by Pat Bean

“If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had on, or the children invent a game in which my name is, or the full moon throw a shadow over the gravel of the drive that was like me, or will the eagles of the Ngong Hills look out for me?” – Isak Dinesen, “Out of Africa”

Following the leader forward. — Photo by Pat Bean

Africa

Balloon ride over the Serengeti: OK, which way is forward? — Photo by Pat Bean

The first image that popped into my mind when I saw that “forward” was the photo challenge topic this week were the long line of elephants that I watched trudge forward in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park. What an amazing sight..

Then I thought about how the native guides were always going forward in search of Africa’s exotic wildlife to give me and my friend, Kim, the best possible safari experiences they could. They did well.

Holding my breath until this baby moves forward and rejoins his mom and brother — Photo by Pat Bean

On the very last morning in the Serengeti, we watched a mama lion and two nearly grown offspring come forward toward us. The guide had seen them and had parked the Land Rover in an ideal situation so that would pass not too far from us.

One of the young lions, however, took a detour and came over and scratched his back on one of our tires – the one I was standing above. It was both thrilling and frightening and I was glad when he went back to going forward toward his mom.

Interesting how two weeks of some of the best travel days of my life became fresh again in my mind after hearing one single word.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Winter’s Majesty http://tinyurl.com/b7d8zek A leaf and a simple poem that captures the best and worst of Chicago in the winter.

Posted in African Safari, Favorite Places, Journeys, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged africa, forward, memories, pat bean, weekly photo challenge | 3 Comments »

Friday’s Wondering-Wandering Thoughts

February 22, 2013 by Pat Bean

Friday Quote

“It doesn’t matter if the class is half empty or half full. Be grateful that there is a glass and there is something in it.” — unknown

Friday Photo

Did you ever lie on your back and look for castles and dragons disguised as clouds? Did you know you can also find hidden figures in rocks. These are full of heads and faces. What do you see? — Photo by Pat Bean

A Mind Gone Astray

One of the bloggers I follow was asked if she had ever wanted to be a rock star. She said she would be happy if she could just sing on key. Then she said: “What I really want is to be a best-selling author … sigh.” I could have said exactly the same thing, and that made me laugh.

Finding kindred souls in the blogging world is one of the best things I like about this new form of reading, which has invaded my life. I don’t know about you, but I love this part of how the world has changed.

And by the way, have you ever wanted to be a rock star? If not, what have you wanted to be? This wondering-wanderer would really like to know.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: A Bridge Forward http://tinyurl.com/bf5lo78 Loved the quote, which gave me something else to ponder. I decided I really wasn’t fond of burning bridges.

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing | Tagged inquiring minds, pat bean, rocks, writing | 12 Comments »

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