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Posts Tagged ‘postaday’

Who’s Youer Than You? No One

Posted in Art, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 15, 2012| 13 Comments »

“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.” Frida Kahol

Roots, a strange painting by Frida Kahlo

Frida’s quote explains everything perfectly — at least to all of us who grew up thinking we were strange.

And if  the women I know best are examples, Frida’s feeling about being strange is pretty much a universal thing. It’s too bad that too  many of us let decades go by before we appreciate our own special strangeness.

 

Dr. Seuss' world at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. -- Photo by Pat Bean

We’re too caught up in what others expect, or what other people will think if we do something strange, like hugging a tree or riding roller coasters when we’re 70. Yes, I do both.

I also think men have problems accepting their strangeness. After all “only sissies cry” and “real men don’t eat quiche.”

Why in the dookie have we allowed others to have so much power over us?

Frida used her strangeness to produce mind-bending art. .

Dr. Seuss, whose characters you must admit are a bit strange, embraced it with his unconventional stories and verse. He also understood how difficult it was for the rest of us to accept being different. Why else would he have wrote:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind … Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

I say we follow Dr. Seuss’ advice.

Bean’s Pat: http://morezennow.wordpress.com This is the blog on which I found Frida’s quote. It’s a blog that makes me think, and I love it when someone does that to me.

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Happy Valentine’s Day to All

Posted in Favorite Places, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , on February 14, 2012| 12 Comments »

 “The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.” Blaise Pascal

I married twice, but never had a honeymoon. So I took myself to Niagara Falls. What a beautiful sight. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Seeing as how my choices of men as soul mates were always poor ones, today is not a lovey-dovey sentimental one for me, although I truly rejoice for those who enjoy it as such..

While it wasn’t always so, I am quite happy that my only domestic partner is my canine traveling companion, Maggie. I think the choices I made in my life led me to this point, perhaps because I subconsciously always knew it was the end I truly wanted.

 

My first great-grandchild. He's 2 now and one of the loves of my life. Happy Valentine's Day Junior. -- Photo by Baron Marsh

And just because I don’t have a significant other, doesn’t mean I don’t have love or passion in my life.

My friends (both male and female), children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren provide the love. While I married the wrong man, the union did provide me with five wonderful children. And because of that, I can have no regrets.

Books, writing, nature, birds, travel and a zest for life, meanwhile, provide all the passion my old-broad libido needs these days.

I don’t think I have settled. I think it is truly who I am. I feel like I finally fit in my own skin.

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all those out there who are enjoying it with a person of their choice, and happy hunting to all those still seeking that special someone. Just don’t forget to live your life while you’re looking.

And may the rest of us just enjoy a happy day. And the same tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow …

Bean’s Pat: Horsetail Fire Falls http://photobotos.com/2012/02/13/horsetail-fire-falls A rare photograph captures why this waterfall was so named. Absolutely awesome! But then I’m a nature lover.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Ready

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Travel, Uncategorized, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , , , , on February 13, 2012| 8 Comments »

 “Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it.” – Mother Teresa 

A Canada goose READY for take off at Farragut State Park in Northern Idaho. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 

Bean’s Pat: Martina’s Design Studio: Gone Too Far To Turn Back. http://photosbymartina.wordpress.com/ Words to live by.

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Dookie Day with a Braggart Ending

Posted in Travels With Maggie, Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 12, 2012| 6 Comments »

A bouquet of black-eyed susans to brighten my followers' day. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Travels With Maggie

Dookie … Dookie … Dookie. That’s the g-rated version of my favorite S word. You know, the stuff that smells as bad as a skunk.

But it was the S-word I said several times yesterday, loud enough for Maggie to give me a quizzical look, when I couldn’t get my blog to post.

 

And a special rose to all those who nominated me for a blog award. Thank you. -- Photo by Pat Bean

My computer screen kept telling me there was an error on the page. That in itself was only worth a few dookies. It was while I was randomly pushing buttons to solve the problem and accidentally deleted two posts – the swan and the Henry Ford ones – that caused me to revert to screaming out the S-word. Maggie sat up on that exclamation.

It took me about three hours of fiddling before I finally got yesterday’s blog to post. The error, which was finally corrected, was nothing more than a wrong link for my Bean’s Pat. Why in the dookie didn’t the computer simply tell me that? I mean if it knew there was an error, surely it knew what it was.

Or am I giving my geeky, top-of-the-line computer to which I’m addicted, and which has more power than was used to take man to the moon and back, too much credit.?

Meanwhile, since I try to fill my blog with positives – because there’s already too much negatives in this crazy world we live in – I’m now going to mention that my readers have given me some awards that I failed to mention in a timely manner.

My grandmother told me never to brag about myself, but I think she was wrong. I think it’s OK to now and then give ourselves a personal pat on the back for a well-done achievement, just so long as we don’t get in the habit of playing one-upmanship.

The awards include: Three nominations for Versatile Blogger, a Kreativ Blogger award, and a Lamplighter Award. I must have done something right because they all came in the space of two days, overwhelming me. In defense, I flagged the notifications and then promptly forgot about them.

Finding them at the bottom of my e-mail messages (I was cleaning out my mailbox while trying to figure out how to solve my blog-posting problem) was the bright point of my dookie-S-word yesterday. Each of the nominators, if they haven’t already, will eventually receive a Bean’s Pat, because I think their blogs are great, too.

Now does anybody know how to recover deleted WordPress posts and put them back in the order they belong?

Bean’s Pat: http://lavenderdragonfly.wordpress.com/ Great blog of quotes to live by.

 

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40-Acre Lake and Coots Galore

Posted in Birds, Favorite Hikes, Favorite Places, Nature, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , on February 11, 2012| 7 Comments »

“I never was one for rushing through a country. I like to take my time breathe the air, get the feel of it. I like to smell it, taste it get it located in my brain. The thing to remember when traveling is that the trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you travel for. “ Louis L’Amore

A coot and a turtle inspect each other. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

The mile and a half walk around 40-Acre Lake at Brazos Bend State Park is one of my favorites. While I’ve walked it many times, each time around is different.

Some days the stroll to the observation tower is filled with black-bellied whistling ducks. On other days its egrets and herons that dominate the shallow shore line and swampy wetlands.

Brilliant common yellowthroats like to hide in the reeds, and a northern harrier or two can usually be seen circling in the sky above. One day I had to turn around because the path ahead was lined by huge alligators. I had Maggie that day and I decided I didn’t want her to become just a tasty morsel for those toothy jaws, not to mention that I didn’t want to become dinner either.

Observation tower midway along the hike around 40-Acre Lake. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This past week, it was the coots that dominated the lake. While not the most glamorous of birds, I love watching them. On this day, perhaps because I felt I was one with nature as I had the trail all to myself on this off-season, week-day, the coots let me get close enough to see the glow in their red eyes.

Bean’s Pat: The Fairy Tale Asylum: My Miss Havisham

 http://thefairytaleasylum.wordpress.com/ It’s Margaret Michell’s Scarlet O’Hara for me. I had read the book, “Gone With the Wind.” four times by the time I was 12.

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Favorite Places: Pine Island, Florida

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Travel, Travels With Maggie, Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 6, 2012| 8 Comments »

“All things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man … the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” Chief Seattle

Travels With Maggie

If you want to see wood storks, Pine Island is the place to go. One of these, perhaps the same one, sat in the top of the tree that help shade my RV from the Florida sun. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I spent a month on Pine Island, exploring such nearby places as the west side of the Everglades, Audubon’s Corkscrew Sanctuary and Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, which were all wonderful places.

But if I wanted to see birds, which of course I always want to do, all I had to do was look out my RV window.

I was especially fond of the word storks that haunted the Dumpster area of the large RV park where I stayed. The also visited me and Maggie at our RV site.

Bean’s Pat: Ruthless Scribblings: 12 (and a half) rules for writing http://tinyurl.com/7bmd3d7 Some good things for writers to remember.

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Favorite Places: Amherstberg Navy Yard, Canada

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , on February 4, 2012| 6 Comments »

Colorful river walk at the Amherstberg Navy Yard in Canada, where I spent a delightful afternoon in 2006. I watched the boats go by from the deck of a nearby restaurant where I had lunch. -- Photo by Pat Bean

 Historical marker located in the Amherstberg Navy Yard -- Photo by Pat Bean “Forests, lakes, and rivers, clouds and winds, stars and flowers, stupendous glaciers and crystal snowflakes – every form of animate or inanimate existence, leaves its impress upon the soul of man.” – Orison Swett Marden

 

 

  Bean’s Pat: Green River, Utah, Canoe Trip http://tinyurl.com/6royggz  Great photo essay of a section of the Green River that I’ve canoed through three times. Thanks for reviving the memories Jack.

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Remembering the Day I Stopped Trying to Be Perfect

Posted in Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , , on February 3, 2012| 14 Comments »

“Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There’s a crack – a crack – in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen

Travels With Maggie

I don't want to stay forever young, like Peter Pan, who is shown here through Epcot's imaginative gardeners, I just want to live life to its fullest. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I have a purple, business-card sized, magnet placed where I can see it daily. It reads: “Destined to be an old woman with no regrets.”

Some people get it, some people don’t.

I suspect the foggy ones never woke up at 40 to realize the only regrets they had in life were the things they hadn’t done, which is exactly what happened to me.

Perhaps I went a little too far the next few years trying to catch up, but I didn’t do anything to cause me regrets, like hurting someone or stop being a person who truly cares about others, including wild animals. .

I simply stopped being perfect and afraid of living my life instead of the one society said a southern woman should live. After all, I had already done the barefoot and pregnant thing.

A motto to live by. -- Photo by Pat Bean

So what does living with no regrets mean to me?

Mostly it just means being myself and not letting fear of doing something I truly want to do keep me from doing it, regardless of who might disapprove. It means not lying, because lies eat away at one’s soul. It means laughing at myself often. It means loving people even if they don’t love me back.

And it means, to paraphrase a toast my youngest son gave at his sister’s wedding: Living so that when I die, I’ll know the difference.

Bean’s Pat: Fabulous 50s: Five Regrets From the Dying http://tinyurl.com/8xtgjhj Great blog, and the one that got me rethinking the foolishness of living with regrets.

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What’s in a Wrong Name?

Posted in Favorite Places, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , on February 2, 2012| 3 Comments »

 “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespeare

Favorite Places: Sardine Canyon, Utah

A sunny fall day in Sardine Canyon. I snapped this photo while up the canyon on an Audubon field trip. -- Photo by Pat Bean

It was January 1971 before this native Texan saw a snow storm, unless you count the piddling snow fall that Dallas gets about once every four years.

My family had just moved to Logan, Utah, where snow stays on the ground sometimes from December to April, which it did this year. I gave up driving because I was a wimp, walking instead the half-dozen blocks to my job at Utah State University.

Then came the night that I got an unexpected call from my brother, who was paying me a surprise visit and wanted me to pick him up at the Salt Lake City airport, 80 miles from Logan – and in a snow storm .

My southern belle hospitality personality clicked into place and I said “Sure!”

The 160-mile round-trip took hours, and I almost ran off the road in Sardine Canyon between Wellsville and Brigham City. I was using the edge of the road as a guide, and suddenly the edge disappeared, eaten by a snow slide that came close to blocking the entire road.

 

One of the many small creeks, fed by snowpack, that flow down from the mountains in Sardine Canyon. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I’ve driven Sardine Canyon many, many times since. And having an inquiring mind, I asked: “How did the canyon get such a fishy name?”

Nobody knew.

The most common guess was that travelers to the valley had sardines for lunch and left the cans along the way as trail markers. Coming in second was the suspicion that it had been named because of the small fish that packed the canyon’s creeks.

And then came the knowledge that the canyon everyone referred to as Sardine was actually Wellsville Canyon – and always had been.

Sardine Canyon, which the settlers actually did use, is located south of Wellsville next to Mount Sterling. Even those who know this, however, continue to call the larger canyon Sardine. Perhaps it’s because, fishy sounding or not, the name still carries more romance in its character than plain old Wellsville.

Whatever name it goes by, this Northern Utah canyon route, also called Highway 89/91 is awesome to drive. If you every get to do so, hopefully it’ll be a sunny day.

Bean’s Pat: frizztext: Aurora Borealis http://tinyurl.com/6uq7hmx I’m a suck for aurora borealis photos. Seeing one in person is high on my To-Do list.

 

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Thankfulness: A Habit I Try to Exercise Daily

Posted in Birds, Nature, Travels With Maggie, tagged , , , , , , on February 1, 2012| 12 Comments »

 “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” William Faulkner

Travels With Maggie

A misty morning in Zion National Park also let my imagination roam free. -- Photo by Pat Bean

When I stepped outside with Maggie this morning, the landscape was heavy with wet, gray fog. It felt like I had stepped back in time to the Land of the Lost. My imagination could even picture a dinosaur emerging from between the two large, moss-laden live oak trees that sit in the park across from where my RV is parked. The fog was that thick.

I was glad it was just my imagination that took me back in time because I am most grateful for the age in which I was born.

I first thought about this when I heard the story of my mother almost dying from diphtheria, a disease that took many children before the 20th century was out of its teens. If not diphtheria, then it was polio, measles or even mumps, all diseases for which there are now vaccines. It was a rare family back then that didn’t lose at least one child.

The thought of that, after I had my own children, was just too horrible to think about.

As the years went by, the miracle of vaccines was joined by the miracle of automatic washing machines to replace the scrub boards and wringer washers which I saw my grandmother and mother use every Monday.

Other time-saving devices freed women even more, well until they joined the work force and found themselves, at least the women of my generation, both bringing home the bacon and continuing as full-time homemakers without help.

Lake's End Park, Morgan, Louisiana: The landscape and cormorants here have a Lost World look about them. Don't you agree? -- Photo by Pat Bean

Thankfully, my granddaughters won’t put up with male partners who don’t change diapers or wash at least a dish or two.

The past 10 years, meanwhile, have brought another modern miracle. The Internet.

While I lived my life mostly without it, I can’t imagine going back to such a time. I love being connected to the world, being able to find an answer to a question within minutes and the new friends it’s brought me.

I try, each day, to find something to be thankful for in my life. Today, I’m grateful it was only my imagination that took me back to a time before labor-saving devices, vaccines and of course Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press and plentiful books to enrich my life.

What do you value most that your ancestors didn’t enjoy?

Bean’s Pat: Portrait of Wildflowers: Seasonal Leaf Color http://tinyurl.com/82gq8np Everything you ever wanted to know about wildflowers. This is a great blog for someone like me who wants to know the name of everything in nature.

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