Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘rainy days’

Rain, Rain, Rain

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Travel, tagged , on April 19, 2016| 5 Comments »

“The reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day.”― Anne Lamott

This was the rainy day view through the windshield of my car when I left Tucson a week ago. -- Photo by Pat Bean

This was the rainy day view through the windshield of my car when I left Tucson a week ago. — Photo by Pat Bean

It Falls on All of Us

The above photo was taken through the windshield of my car, at the corner of Swan and Sunrise in Tucson, a week ago. Although the photo doesn’t pick them up, I could faintly see the silhouette of the Catalina Mountains directly ahead through my swishing wiper blades.

But that doesn't mean you cant see scissor-tailed flycatchers in the rain -- and you don't want to miss that. -[ Photo by Pat Bean

But that doesn’t mean you can’t see scissor-tailed flycatchers in the rain — and you don’t want to miss that. — Photo by Pat Bean

         It was still raining 450 miles later when I pulled into the Whitten Inn in isolated Van Horn Texas, where I would spend the night before driving another 450 miles to Austin, Texas. This day, the sun came out, and I was even rewarded with a few patches of Texas bluebonnets whose blooming had peaked a couple of weeks ahead of my arrival.

After a marvelous, fantastic, awesome four days in Austin mingling with 100 writing sisters, I left Sunday afternoon to drive to my oldest daughter’s home in Dallas. I didn’t take a picture of my leave taking this time, but the top photo – minus the unseen Catalina Mountains – will work perfectly.

Some days we have rain, and some days we have sun. I don’t know about you, but I try to get on with my life whatever the weather.

Bean Pat: Hasty Words http://tinyurl.com/htdt9za For Real? This blog should give you lots to mull over.

Read Full Post »

Rainy, Cold and Overcast

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Books, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , on January 11, 2016| 8 Comments »

The view of the Catalina Mountains this morning from the parking lot of my apartment complex. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The view of the Catalina Mountains this morning from the parking lot of my apartment complex. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.: — Vivian Green

Days for Being Lazy and Reading

We had snow in Tucson the January month I began nesting here. Three years later, we had snow in Tucson again.

003

The peaks a couple of days ago when they were mostly hidden behind a cloud curtain. — Photo by Pat Bean

My first Sonoran Desert snowfall was fairy like, and I got a photograph before it all melted a couple of hours later. This past week’s snowfall never made it down to the valley. But unlike my first one, which dusted the Catalina Mountains fo only a day, this one has provided me with mountain snowfall vistas for a full week. I’m assuming that while we got consistent rain in the foothills where I live, it snowed at higher elevations .

In the meantime, no matter how many things I wrote down each morning on my daily to-do list, by 10 o’clock, all I wanted to do was curl up in my recliner by a window with a book, and watch in total contentment as the cold, overcast, rainy day passed by my window..

And mostly, with occasional outings in the weather to walk my canine companion Pepper, that’s exactly what I did.

Today it’s sunny in the valley, and the Catalinas are losing their frosting. The sun defrosted my lazy ways too. Already I’ve cleaned house; spent an hour on the telephone with Comcast trying to get them not to raise my internet fees as they do every year in January; went to the store and bank; retrieved my mail, which has been sitting in my box for a week, read a bit, painted a bit, crocheted a bit, cooked a bit, and now am writing this blog – and it’s still early afternoon.

The sun and warmer day have recharged my batteries.

Bean Pat: In recognition of the death of David Bowie, my pat on the back today goes to the Wall Street Journal’s article and video on the rock star. http://tinyurl.com/hgagykl   And as a writer, this is one of my favorite quotes by Bowie: “Don’t you love the Oxford Dictionary? When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything.”

 

Read Full Post »

The Up Side of a Cold Day

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 4, 2011| 5 Comments »

 

"Don't wake me until it's warm enough to go outside and pee." -- Photo of Maggie, the boss, by Pat Bean

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce

Travels With Maggie

Maggie and I were supposed to pick up my grandson’s girlfriend this morning and then the three of us were to drive 222 miles to Harker Heights. The weather changed my mind. We’ll go tomorrow.

In the meantime I have a whole day ahead of me, as do others sitting out Mother Nature’s flurry.  School was canceled here in Lake Jackson, Texas, where my RV is cozily parked, and some workers, like my daughter-in-law, were told to take the day off.

So what do you do on a cold, snowy, icy, gray day when you want to stay inside and warm? Here are some suggestions.

Read a good book, like Ken Follett’s “World Without End” Susan Albert’s “Bloodroot,” Robin Hobb’s “Assassin’s Apprentice ” John Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charlie,” Tim Cahill’s “Road Fever” or any old color-coded John D. MacDonald mystery. I cried when this writer died. His Travis McGee character always kept me turning pages.

Make a pot of pumpkin soup: One box V8 Butternut Squash soup, one can Swanson’s chicken broth, one can unsweetened pumpkin, half a stick of butter, red pepper to taste and a bit of milk if you want it creamier. Mix together and heat.

A boy and two girls just wanna have fun. Playing dress-up: Michael Kim and Me

Play dress-up with your friends – yes grownups can do it, too – and take funny pictures.

Organize your photos.

Take a long nap. That’s Maggie’s favorite things to do.

Play board games, like Settlers or Sorry, or play Monopoly on the Wii if you’re alone.

Put off taking your dog for a walk as long as possible.

And ________________. Well, you fill in the blank space.

Read Full Post »