Wouldn’t you rather be fishing?
Taken through the underwater windows aboard the Seaworld Explorer off Cozumel. — Photo by Pat Bean
Do you have a favorite underwater photo?
Posted in Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged cozumel, fishing, Just a photo, underwater | 5 Comments »
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.” Aldous Huxley
Don’t Believe Everything You Read
As a wet-behind-the-ears journalist, I learned not to believe everything I was told. The lesson came the first time I wrote about a stranded family in town with a dying child. The article I wrote poured money into their pockets. And then, after they had fled the area, I learned it was all a scam, one they had also pulled in a town the next daily newspaper away.
Will the real Regina Brett please stand up.
I was never taken in again because I learned the art of double checking, and double checking again. It’s a habit that’s proved more valuable than ever since the Internet came along.Now while I love the web, it’s not the purveyor of truth that a good, investigative reporter is. Anyone can say just about anything – and does.
That fact was jammed home to me this morning when I read a great blog by Soul Writings, which quoted 90-year-old Regina Brett, Plains Dealer newspaper columnist, about the lessons she had learned in life.
There were 42 of them, and I found every one of them to be great advice. The blog was accompanied by a photo of the 90-year-old Regina wearing large black spectacles. I loved the image of her wearing gaudy jewelry and bright colors. I think old broads, perhaps because I am one, rock.
But something didn’t ring true in this old journalist’s head. So I started double-checking.
There really is a Regina Brett, I discovered, and she really is a columnist for the Plains Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. But she’s nowhere near 90, although she really did write a column called Life’s Lesson. There were 45 of them, not just 42, however. And she recently updated the column to include 50, as that is the age she is turning.
You really can’t believe everything you read, you know.
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: Soul Writings http://tinyurl.com/aoqzwen It’s still a
good column, but here’s the real one. http://tinyurl.com/yzl3szz .
Posted in Journeys, Writing | Tagged Internet, life lesson, pat bean, regina brett, scams | 4 Comments »
“Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” – Brad Paisley
An American sunrise starts the day. — Photo by Pat Bean
Perhaps my next 364 Days will be Better
I started the New Year off being sick. That statement is followed by the 4-letter S word that I tend to shout out when the computer crashes or Pepper eats my favorite slipper. I have a slight fever and a throat that feels like Darth Vader is sucking it dry.
Dookie, Dookie, Dookie!
Who out there has seen the movie “Sordid Lives?” A very funny movie but it can also be offensive to some people. I don’t offend easily so I loved it. I wonder if I can find it on Netflix. I need to get my mind off my body.
OK. My brain is not working either. I can’t write two connected sentences. So it’s time to sign off and hit the bed again. Oh but I have to walk Pepper first. S!
Bean’s Pat: Alex Autin http://tinyurl.com/bk24vkb Fantastic, “out-of-this-world” blog by one of my favorite bloggers. She helped me forget for a while that I was sick.
Posted in Journeys, Travel | Tagged alex autin, american sunrise, brad paisley, new year, pat bean, sick, sordid lives | 20 Comments »
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” — Abraham Lincoln.
Happy New Year Everyone
I just want to say a big “Thank You” to my readers. I’ve taken a break from blogging since Christmas as I have been making a big lifestyle change, one that will be reflected, I’m sure, in the blogs I will post in 2013.
Pepper and I wish everyone a Happy New Year. This is Pepper the day I rescued her. She’s a bit bigger today.
Meanwhile, since this is New Year’s Eve, here are my resolutions for this blog in the coming year.Post five times a week. This is part of another resolution to not touch a computer one day a week. The other missing day is to get out in Mother Nature’s realm so I can continue telling you about her wonders.
Tell readers at least once a week about a book I’m enjoying reading.
Finish writing “Travels with Maggie,” so I can go on to a new writing project that I can share with you.
Keep you updated on Pepper, the lively Scottie-mix canine that I’ve lived with for the past eight months who has stolen my heart.
Continue providing a link to another daily blog that I’ve enjoyed,
I also commit to responding to everyone who makes a comment on my blog, and hope that in the coming year I will get to know many of you better.
Thanks to all of you for making this a great blogging year for me. Now here’s what WordPress had to say about Pat Bean’s Blog.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 48,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 11 Film Festivals
Posted in Books, Dogs, Journeys, Travel, Writing | Tagged blogging, new year's resolutions | 8 Comments »
May the holidays be one of peace and joy. — Wikipedia photo
When I was young, and inclined toward acting out, I got my younger brothers together to put on a live presentation of Clement Moore’s “Twas the Night before Christmas.” It was rousing success, although the brother who played Santa Claus, knocked down the cardboard chimney when he was making his exit.
The poem is still one of my favorites, and I reread it every Christmas to make sure I can still say it from memory. I almost can.
Twas the Night before Christmas
By Clement Moore
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”
Posted in Journeys | Tagged clement moore, merry christmas, pat bean, postaday, twas the night before christmas | 6 Comments »
“Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Waiting to Surprise Someone
Posted in Nature, Weekly Photo Challenge | Tagged pat bean, postaday, Ralph Waldo Emerson, weekly photo challenge | 5 Comments »
“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.’” – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou speaking in 2008. –Wikipedia photo
Perfectly Fantastic
I once had the honor of interviewing Maya Angelou. It was one of the highlights of my 37-year journalistic career.
Says this wise old lady:
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.”
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”
“I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.”
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: 46 Reflections http://tinyurl.com/bumwlrk A fantastic gift of photos and quotes from Matador online magazine. I loved every one.
Posted in Journeys | Tagged Maya Angelou, pat bean, postaday | 2 Comments »
Edward Abbey — Wikipedia photo
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey
One of My Heroes
Edward Abbey’s above quote is possibly my favorite of all quotes. If you’re one of those like me, who seeks out Mother Nature at every opportunity, I’m sure you’ll understand.
Abbey, author of the “Monkey Wrench Gang,” “Desert Solitaire,” “Fire on the Mountain,” and others, also said:
“Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.”
“The tragedy of modern war is that the young men die fighting each other – instead of their real enemies back home in the capitals.”
“Wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit.”
“Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it up every once in a while then a layer of scum floats to the top.”
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: Penguin Encounter http://tinyurl.com/cqqocs3 Continuation of Wild Junket’s Antarctica adventure.
Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Nature | Tagged Edward Abbey, pat bean, postaday | 7 Comments »
A Word from the Cat in the Hat
I’m in the middle of a lifestyle transition, have four books to read by January for a contest I’m judging, blogging three times a week for American Profile magazine, getting ready for Christmas, enjoying my youngest daughter and her family, preparing to move into an apartment for which I need furniture, and am trying to cope with a dog that has decided a grandson’s room is a nice place to poop.
Pepper’s done the dirty deed twice, but I think it’s been because I haven’t been up to our normal long walks. The physical therapist I visited Monday said it was a hip impingement.
I’m getting physical therapy and doing exercises for the leg so hopefully things will be back to normal soon. In the meantime, Pepper and I have been taking a lot of short walks to solve the problem. I sure hope so because my new apartment is a third-story walk-up.
So, for the remainder of the year, I’m going to rely on some of my favorite people to help me out. Today it’s Dr. Seuss, whose advice I’ve enjoyed for a long, long time. Here are three of my favorite Seuss quotes.
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the readers who reads.”
“Today you are you, that’s truer than true. There’s no one alive who is youer than you.”
Book Report: We’re not going to say any more about this until Jan. 1, 2013.
The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: Transplanted Tatar http://tinyurl.com/ayyyn4r A Glimpse of Paradise, or more specifically, the landscape that has claimed a piece of my soul.
Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Books, Journeys, Writing | Tagged changing lifestyle, dogs, Dr. Seuss, pat bean, postaday | 8 Comments »
Texas to Arizona
“Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you’re riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don’t bury your thoughts, put your visit to reality. Wake up and live!” – Bob Marley
Changing Lifestyles – At Least Temporarily
The Guadalupe Mountains — Photo by Pat Bean
After two months of leisurely cross-country travel, which I just completed blogging about, and six weeks traveling around Texas to enjoy the company of children and grandchildren whom I hadn’t seen since April or longer, I set off to Tucson to spend Christmas with my youngest daughter and her family.
My canine traveling companion, Pepper, and I made the 950-mile trip in three days, which was way too fast for sight-seeing along the way. That’s best done by traveling only a hundred miles and then staying put for a day or more.
The first night I made it to Anson, Texas, where I hooked Gypsy Lee up for the night in a not-too-appealing RV park that was shared with a motel. It was located next to a noisy cotton mill and litter, every piece of which Pepper wanted to investigate, was plentiful on our short walks around the area.
Guadalupe Peak — Photo by PatBean
The next day, the drive was accompanied by rain, dust storms and high winds that sent tumbleweeds doing their thing across the highway. The wind had RV, Gypsy Lee, doing a rock and roll dance, even after I stopped for the day early in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Thankfully the RV park was nicer.
The next day was calm, and when Highway 180 took me back into Texas through the Guadalupe Mountains, I stopped briefly to enjoy being in the presence of Guadalupe Peak which at 8,749 feet is the highest point in Texas.
After that, I stayed in the driver’s seat, stopping only for gas until I reached Tucson, which is where Pepper and I are going to stay — at least for a while. I found a small pet-friendly, one-bedroom apartment in the Catalina Mountain foothills, which after living in a tiny RV for eight years, seems like a mansion.
But I’m keeping Gypsy Lee primed for the road for when the wanderlust hits again.
Book Report: Still in snail mode.
Bean’s Pat: Bird Light Wind http://tinyurl.com/cnevdu8 Red-shouldered hawk. Fantastic photos
Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Journeys, Nature, Travel, Writing | Tagged changing lifestyles, Guadalupe Mountains, Guadalupe Peak, pat bean, postaday, tuccson | 4 Comments »
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“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters.” — Ursula K. Le GuinPat Bean is a writer, avid birder, hiker and passionate nature observer with wanderlust in her soul. She spent nine years living and traveling in a small RV. She now lives in Tucson with Scamp, a rescue who was supposed to be a Schnauzer mix but turned out to be a Siberian Husky-Shih Tzu mix who is as stubborn as his owner, her granddaughter says. She was also a journalist for 37 years, and can be reached at patbean@msn.com
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