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Posts Tagged ‘postaday’

Favorite Places: Hannibal, Missouri

Posted in Favorite Places, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2012| 6 Comments »

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ” — Mark Twain

Tom and Huck’s Cardiff Hill

Mark Twain put Hannibal on the map, and the city is now using the places where Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn played and roamed to entice people to the tourist town. You can take a ride on a paddle boat, tour the dark corners of the cave Tom and Becky got lost in, visit his home and walk up 253 steps to get to the top of Cardiff Hill. I did them all, simply because. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I climbed the steps and then discovered the road that most others took to the top. I think I would have taken those steps even if I knew the road existed, however. That’s just who I am.

Bean’s Pat: Camping With a Canine in Cornwall http://tinyurl.com/726he22 This reminded me of many of my own adventuress when I was a tent camper. .

 

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A Week in Chicago

Posted in Favorite Places, Travel, tagged , , , on March 13, 2012| 1 Comment »

 “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” ~Seneca

The Art Institute of Chicago – and Snow

While I tend to hit the backroads and boonies most frequently in my travels so as to satisfy my need for Mother Nature’s sanctuaries, I also enjoy big cities.

That good because I recently spent a week in Chicago. The purpose was to visit my youngest son, Michael, but I also got in a bit of sight-seeing in the Windy City.

My son, knowing that no visit to any big city is complete without a visit to an art museum, set aside a day for us to take in the Chicago institute of Art, which has a great Impressionist collection.

What a great day it was, from being amused by the pair of fierce lions guarding the museum entrance to getting re-acquainted with the works of Van Gogh, even though my favorites, his Starry Night series was not among them.

A snowy early morning view from my son's third-floor Chicago apartment. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It was a great visit, which included a fancy dinner at the top of the John Hancock Building, which came with a foggy night view of the city.  But  I especially enjoyed getting up one morning and looking out my son’s apartment window and seeing snow. This winter has been spent mostly on Texas’ Gulf Coast and snow has not been part of the landscape.

Change, I think, is good for the human soul. At least it feels that way for mine.

 Bean’s Pat: Cats in Paris http://tinyurl.com/7ql84jt Quite an eclectic collection, and I loved them all.

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Royalty Enters My Life

Posted in Journeys, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on March 12, 2012| 31 Comments »

 
Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Enlarge Photo
 
Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX Meghan: Beagle, Dog; Houston, TX

Meghan

Beagle: An adoptable dog in Houston, TX

Small • Adult • Female
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This sweet little beagle girl looks like a perpetual puppy due to her small size and her cute little mannerisms. She is only 12″ tall and weighs about 17 lbs! She was brought in to a Houston-area shelter as a stray and not claimed. The shelter guessed her age at approx. 5 – 6 years, but it seems she may be younger. She tested heartworm negative, has been updated on vaccines, has had her teeth cleaned, is now spayed, microchipped and dewormed.
 
Meghan is a little princess, and wants to be your lap-doggie. She will install herself on the lap of whomever happens to be sitting down at the time. Her dream would be to sleep in the bed with the humans. She loves humans, and believes her status to be above that of the other dogs in the household. There are no cats in the foster home, but we think she might chase cats if given the opportunity; after all, she is a beagle! Her favorite activity is taking a walk on leash, and she also likes to ride in the car.

At night she will sleep quietly (but reluctantly) in a dog crate at her foster home, ever hopeful of earning a spot on the “big” bed. During the day she is allowed to be loose in the house, as she does not chew things and she gets along with the other dogs. She WILL sometimes bark at noises outside, and makes quite a racket when the humans are either leaving or coming home — for such a little thing, she does have a very loud bark! Therefore she might not be a great fit for an apartment unless the neighbors can be informed that the occasional squeals are from a protesting dog and not a banshee! (grin)

She knows how to use a doggie door, but little princess that she is, she really prefers not to go outside unless accompanied by a human friend. The ideal home for Meghan will be a quiet one where there is not a lot of activity. She would not be comfortable with young children or super active dogs. There might have been some traumatic incidents in her past that led her to worry about her safety, so she worries about being picked up quickly or being bumped by rowdy dogs. She will be a loyal and loving companion to anyone who can give her lots of love and attention. To adopt Meghan or one of our other rescued beagles, please follow the instructions on our website and complete an application to adopt. 

  Princess Meghan

She's got melt-your-heart-chocolate-brown eyes and a regalness about her that prompted me to call her Princess Meghan. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I discovered the above notice on the Internet — and immediately  knew I had found a perfect new companion for my RV travels.

 
It took filling out a  lengthy application, a  120-mile round-trip drive through a Texas-sized rain storm the next day, a sales job to convince the beagle guardians that I would treat an adopted dog humanely, and finally writing a check for $225,   but Meghan is now mine. It was an instant bonding. She crawled up in my lap as I was driving home. 
 
I stopped at the first opportunity, stacked three pillows in the co-pilot seat and put her atop it.  She was happy and alternated between looking out the window, howling at passing semis and snoozing. 
 
She met three big canine cousins without fear, made friends with Pippin (see yesterday’s blog, proving she doesn’t chase cats),  claimed a large comfy chair to snooze in while I played a game of Settlers with my son and his wife, dragged me around for a couple of walks, howled in response to the local hound’s passage,  explored my RV and immediately claimed Maggie’s favorite spots as her own, and finally curled up beside me in my bed for the night.
 
Her actions told me she was no Maggie-Too as I had planned on naming any new dog.  She’s a Princess through and through. 
 
Princess Meghan I shall call her.  Count on hearing a lot more about her in coming days.
 
  Bean’s Pat: Bobby Harrison http://tinyurl.com/869plkp   This is a great blog for bird lovers. Bobby takes great bird photos, and I especially enjoyed these shots of a purple gallinule.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Contrast

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on March 12, 2012| 1 Comment »

 “In order to keep a true perspective of one’s importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him.” — Dereke Bruce

Pippin atop my daughter-in-law's Escape -- Photo by Pat Bean

This week’s photo challenge to demonstrate contrast naturally had me thinking of color. So this morning when I saw golden-haired Pippin sitting on top of my daughter-in-law’s black Escape, my mind went “AHA!”

I grabbed my camera and went out to take his picture, knowing that this was a cat who would pose for me. He’s that kind of cat.

Rocky sizing up what's under the Christmas tree. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I got his picture, but in the process I stepped on a bed of ants and they retaliated. Thankfully, they weren’t fire ants, but the leg that they crawled up and the hand that brushed them away stung for about half an hour.

And the pain was all for naught. When I looked at the photos, I realized they really didn’t show the contrast I wanted. .

Then I thought of Rocky, a fat, black and white, cat that belongs to my youngest daughter, and the contrasts between the two felines. .

Pippin is an outdoor cat that gets pleasure out of tormenting the neighborhood raccoons. He simply showed up one day at my son’s place and decided it was home.

He got neutered, is fed daily, and has a warm garage in which to sleep at night. But he remains an outdoor cat. Of all the cats in my large family’s menagerie, Pippin is my favorite. While very independent, he’s always ready for human contact and loving from any human who enters his territory.

He considers himself an animal guard cat, however, and any trespassing dogs should beware..

Rocky, on the other hand, was rescued during a Guam typhoon by my daughter and is not allowed outside. He’s picky about whom he cozies up to, preferring my son-in-law’s lap to any other.

His primary playmate is a great Dane, whom he bosses around.

So, for contrast, I offer up Pippin and Rocky.

Bean’s Pat: where’s my toothbrush: Camel Riding in Jaisalmer http://tinyurl.com/7phjrsn A delightful travel blog about a camel adventure in India.

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Time to Move On

Posted in Journeys, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2012| 21 Comments »

“If you’re going through hell, keep going” — Winston Churchill

Maggie was the first dog I owned that always took time on our walks to stop and smell the flowers. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I guess I’m going to survive the loss of my Maggie. I was looking for a quote on grief and came across the above one by good old Sir Winnie – and I laughed.

Of course I also cried when I came across these words from an unknown author: “Without tears, the soul would have no rainbows.”

This one's for you Maggie. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’m so very thankful that I had loved ones around trying to distract me from my sorrow. I got two free lunches and learned how to use a game controller the past three days while hiding out from my blog and from working on my travel book.

 I’m also extremely thankful for my Cloud World of writing and blogging friends. While each of your heartfelt words started the tears anew, the virtual hugs that came with them helped me tremendously.

It’s the first time I’ve turned to others during a bad time in my life. My usual tactic is to run away and hide and bare my sorrow in solitude. It seemed easier that way, but I was wrong.

Even so, last night was the first time I’ve ever felt alone since I moved into my RV. So, in honor of, and meaning no disrespect to Maggie, I’ve already started looking for a new pet.

Like Maggie, it will be a dog needing rescued. My druthers are a 20-25 pound, one to two-year-old female canine that likes to be walked, wants to travel, isn’t averse to being spoiled rotten, and likes to cuddle. Chocolate brown eyes that melt your heart, as Maggie’s did mine, would be a plus.

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Maggie’s Gone

Posted in Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , on March 8, 2012| 51 Comments »

Half asleep but with one eye open because Ijust opened the refrigerator door. Maggie had more attitude than any dog I ever owned. And I will miss her greatly. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I can’t stop crying long enough to write. Maggie’s gone to doggie heaven and whomever’s in charge damn well better make sure they treat her well. We lost the ear-infection battle.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Distortion

Posted in Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , , on March 3, 2012| 8 Comments »

 “The most dangerous of all falsehoods is a slightly distorted truth.” — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

 

Body Distortion: Day of the Dead, San Antonio, Texas -- Photo by Pat Bean

Bean’s Pat: Slowing Down to Save Time http://tinyurl.com/6wzf65g A lesson I would do well to take to heart.

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Favorite Places: Manatee Hammocks RV Park

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , , , , on March 2, 2012| 2 Comments »

 “Hear! Hear! Screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, “winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel if you know where to look for it.” — Henry David Thoreau.

The pier through the trees at Manatee Hammocks RV Park in Titusville, Florida. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Florida scrub jay -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’m sitting by a bank of third-floor windows looking out past naked tree branches at a dull Chicago day in which snow has been forecast.

It’s quite different from the Texas Gulf Coast I left behind. According to today’s weather report, it’s 77 degrees and raining in Lake Jackson. I hope someone remembered to shut the windows in my RV and turn on the air conditioner for Maggie.

Actually I’m sure they – my son, Lewis, and his wife, Karen – did. Karen just texted me that Maggie had a nice walk this morning and shared their steak dinner yesterday evening.

I left Maggie behind to fly into Chicago for a week to visit my youngest son, Michael.

Thinking about my two-and-a-half-hour flight from one climate to another got me thinking about the winters of my past.

Oranges just outside my RV door. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I grew up in Dallas, where we might get a bit of snow that stayed on the ground less than a day. Then there was Texas’ Gulf Coast where the world stayed green through the winter, and a rare half-inch of snow maybe once every 10 years shut down schools.

In January, 1971, I moved to Northern Utah, where I didn’t see ground beneath the snow that year until early April. I took up skiing and came to love the snow.

Since retiring in 2004, winters have mostly been spent on the Texas Gulf Coast, although I did spend one December in Guam, and one entire winter in Florida.

That winter in Florida, while my friends back in Utah were buried in snow, I was seeking out shady spots – and getting a good look at my first Florida scrub jay, a bird that can be found only in Florida – and only in one small portion of the state.

I saw the bird on a tour that was part of the Titusville Bird Festival. For the week I spent in this area adjacent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, I stayed at the Manatee Hammocks RV Park. It was a delightful place where I could pick fresh oranges just outside my RV door.

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It’s Aways a Good Day When I Learn Something New

Posted in Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , on March 1, 2012| 19 Comments »

 “I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.” — Flash Rosenberg.

Kickapoo State Park, Illinois -- Just because I'm currently in Illinois. I sat out a major thunderstorm here in 2006. -- Photo by Pat Bean

And Today Was a Very Good Day

From now on, there will be no more spilled coffee. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I like my morning coffee, strong and heavily laced with half and half.

Drinking two cups every day is my morning ritual. That means I pour coffee into my mug at least, well sometimes I have three cups, 730 times annually. Multiply that by old-broad years.

Now I ask you, how many of those thousands of times that I’ve poured coffee from the pot into a cup do you think I’ve dribbled coffee on the counter while doing so?

My guess is that 50 percent of those times might be a bit too low. And I suspect I’m not alone in this. I’ve tried tilting the pot every which way but nothing ever seemed to work.

It took my son, Michael, whom I flew to Chicago yesterday to visit, to tell me what I was doing wrong. I decided I would tell all you readers who might not be as smart as Michael, who figured it out 10 years ago.

“It’s simply a matter of pouring it slowly Mother,” he told me this morning. “The design of the spout on the coffee pot is flawed.”

And all of a sudden I could see it. Duh! I thought.

So how many of you are as smart as my son, Michael? And how many as dumb as me?

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Today’s News Made Me Angry

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, tagged , , , , , , on February 29, 2012| 7 Comments »

“If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.” — Marcus Aurelius

Soap Box Day

My rant might not have been pretty, but Lake Reidsville in North Carolina is awesome. I need to sit beside such a place until my blood pressure returns to normal. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I live on a fixed income, almost 20 percent of which goes to pay for Medicare and Medigap private insurance. While it’s too much, I try to be grateful that I can at least pay the health-care costs. Way too many older Americans can’t. And the young and poor are in the same situation.

Then today I read a story about Dallas-area medical service providers who bilked Medicare and Medicaid of nearly $375 million.

But that’s just a drop in the bucket. Health Care fraud costs the government at least 60 billion annually, according to the Associated Press story.

Part of that is my money, and yours, How much less would we seniors have to pay for medical care if the greedy cheaters had a drop of human kindness in their hearts. And how much more would workers get to take home of their paychecks if the cheaters didn’t get their unfair share.

Have these arrogant sons of, well-you-know, been among the world’s population all along, or have we forgotten to teach our children that the world does not owe them a living? What can we do about it?

I wish I had answers. All I can do is hope that some judge, somewhere, will put these greedy so-called medical providers out of circulation so they can do no more harm – and deny them medical care, too.

 

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