sunrises | Pat Bean's blog

Posts Tagged ‘sunrises’

Necessities of Life

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Writing, tagged books, necessitiesk sunsets, pat bean, sunrises on May 12, 2014| 11 Comments »

I was driving across West Texas before dawn last month, when the sun began to rise. I stopped on the side of the road to capture it. I drove on with renewed energy and a heart full of thankfulness. — Photo by Pat Bean

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” – Dalai Lama

“A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.” – Henry Ward Beecher

Civilization is the limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities.” – Mark Twain

These Are Mine

A Southern Idaho sunset.

My online writing circle’s recent writing prompt was to write about what we considered necessities.

So after taking away air, food, clothing and shelter – which are really the true necessities – I came up with this list:

Sunrises to let me know I’ve survived another day.

Hugs from family and friends.

Interesting conversations from any and all.

Books to make me think or simply escape.

Time to myself to ponder and wonder.

Daily walks to keep my old limbs moving.

Hot baths to ease my old joints and make me feel like I live in luxury.

Art to bring out my creative side.

Travel to explore new places and to learn new things about myself.

Transportation to get from one place to another.

My canine companion, Pepper, to keep me from ever being lonely.

Daily writing, which is as important to me as daily breathing.

Sunsets so I know I’ve made it to the end of the day, and simply because of their wondrous beauty.

Sleep so I can enjoy all of the above.

So do you think I want too much? And what do you consider your necessities?

Blog pick of the day.

Bean Pat: Swimming with Green Sea Turtles http://tinyurl.com/kqqd4gp I once swam with sea turtles, off Buck Island in the Caribbean. What great memories.

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Infinite

Posted in Journeys, Nature, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged henry david thoreau, infinite, sunrises, sunsets on October 16, 2013| 9 Comments »

Tucson sunset — Photo by Pat Bean

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of dawn.” Henry David Thoreau

Can you feel the passion in this sunset? I can. — Photo by Pat Bean

Sunrises and Sunsets Come in Infinite Colors

An Arkansas pink and purple morning. — Photo by Pat Bean

A Texas dawn. — Photo by Pat Bean

And I love them all — infinitely.

Read Full Post »

The Sun Rises, the Sun Sets

Posted in Journeys, tagged pat bean, sunrises, sunsets, time on May 27, 2013| 4 Comments »

Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the days. Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers. Blossoming even as they gaze. Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly fly the years. One season following another, laden with happiness and tears. – Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock, from “Fiddler on the roof.

Where in Timbuktu Did May Disappear?

I looked at the calendar this month and saw that the end of the month was only a few days away.

I didn’t realize I had seen that many sunrises and sunsets. I’m not always successful but I try to catch them both.

One means the start of a new day

Pink and purple to start the day. — Photo by Pat Bean

and the other means I survived whatever the day brought my way.

… and orange and gold to end it. — Photo by Pat Bean.

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challege: Change

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged change, sunrises, weekly photo challenge, Zion National Park on April 15, 2013| 4 Comments »

Zion National Park

“He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.” – Harold Wilson

When I took my canine traveling companion on her morning walk at Zion National Park, the view across from my RV glowed. — Photo by Pat Bean

“If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” – Mary Englebreit

An hour later, when I was getting ready to leave the park, the view’s intensity had changed significantly. I’m glad I’ an early riser. — Photo by Pat Bean

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” W. Edwards Deming

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: http://tinyurl.com/chabzlm The first thing each morning… I make coffee, walk Pepper, and plan my day while I drink my coffee. What about you?

Read Full Post »

The Color of Heaven?

Posted in Journeys, Nature, tagged heaven, pat bean, sunrises, sunsets, the color orange on March 7, 2013| 13 Comments »

“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.

Read Full Post »

Posted in Birds, Favorite Hikes, Journeys, Nature, tagged colorado trail, cooper's hawk, John Muir, mornings, pat bean, postaday, sunrises on February 6, 2013| 5 Comments »

Sunrise and a Pair of Cooper’s Hawks

“The grand show is eternal It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling, vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in turn, as the round earth rolls.” – John Muir

First I saw the sunrise … — Photo by Pat Bean

A morning couldn’t get any better

And then I saw one hawk … — Photo by Pat Bean

I was sitting at my computer, drinking my cream-laced Sumatran coffee and wondering what I was going to blog about today when my phone chimed that I had just received a text message. “Shhh. Come look,” my neighbor Betty Ann had written.

And so, quietly, I stepped out onto my third-floor balcony and was greeted with a blooming-pink sunrise that brought cheer to my soul. Beautiful, I thought, but why did I have to be quiet to see it.

And then I heard a throaty kek-keky-kek coming from a tall tree in the courtyard.

… and then I saw the second Cooper’s hawk. — Photo by Pat Bean

Not one, but two hawks, were sitting among the branches. I quickly, and quietly, stepped back inside and grabbed my camera.

From their rusty-red breasts, I thought I was looking at a couple of red-shouldered hawks, but a few minutes later, when I put my binoculars on them, I realized they were Cooper’s hawks. While both birds of prey have streaked red breasts, their head shapes and the rest of their coloring is quite different.

I’m hoping the pair will build a nest in that tree. What a daily bird-watching adventure I will have if they do. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Hiking the Colorado Trail http://tinyurl.com/b2tqg2l I love hiking trails, but for the next month or so my broken foot is keeping me off them. Perhaps that’ why I so enjoyed my arm-chair hike this morning with this Fabulous 50’s blogger.

Read Full Post »

Sunday Morning Sunrise

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Lakes, Nature, Travel, tagged Idaho parks, Lake Walcott State Park, nature, pat bean, postaday, sunrises, Travel on June 24, 2012| 14 Comments »

“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dew and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” – John Muir

The view from my RV, with no photographic enhancement. — Photo by Pat Bean

Lake Walcott Welcomes the Day

Reflections: A calm lake provides a second canvas for Mother Nature. — Photo by Pat Bean

I took 25 days to drive from my daughter’s home on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas, to Lake Walcott State Park in Idaho, where I’ll be spending the summer.

It’s my third year here as a volunteer campground host. I return because it’s an awesome place, where Mother Nature changes the scenery daily. I arrive in time to see the first buds of spring paint the landscape, and stay until the crisp colors of autumn paint over the green of summer.

Nowhere, however, have I ever seen more spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

Thankfully, my canine companion, Pepper, wakes me in time to see that magic hour of grayness, when all the world seems to hold its breath for a moment, in anticipation of dawn’s first light.

This morning’s explosion was especially spectacular.

Bean’s Pat: http://photonatureblog.com/ This blog helps me get a daily dose of nature’s wonders. Today it’s a butterfly that stirs my soul. Blog pick of the day by a wondering wanderer.

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Today

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Lakes, Nature, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged Lake Walcott, pat bean, postaday, sunrises, today art buchwald, weeklyphoto challenge on June 1, 2012| 11 Comments »

“We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don’t think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you’re hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.” ~Art Buchwald

The Beginning of a New Day

Today — How could it have started any better? — Photo by Pat Bean

Early Morning on Lake Walcott

It’s days like this that I don’t mind my canine traveling companion, Pepper, waking me up early for a walk. — Photo by Pat Bean

Read Full Post »

Oh What a Beautiful Morning …

Posted in Birds, Dogs, Favorite Places, Travel, tagged coyotes, mornings, pat bean, postaday, sunrises on April 30, 2012| 13 Comments »

Oh What a Beautiful Morning …

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the faster lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lions wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle … when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

First view of Lake Arrowhead's sunrise -- Photo by Pat Bean

A Howl of a Sunrise

Five minutes later ... Photo by Pat Bean

When Pepper and I stepped out of the RV on our last morning at Lake Arrowhead State Park. It was to a chorus of howling coyotes.

My new canine companion perked her ears up, listened for a couple of seconds and then joined their chorus. What a great traveler she’s going to make, I thought.

Then I stepped around the side of my RV, Pepper’s leash in one hand and a cup of cream-laced African coffee in the other hand, and watched the sun rise.

Every morning should have such a great start.

Bean’s Pat: The Greening of the Great Egret http://tinyurl.com/br8fhd A great bird decked out in its courting colors.

Read Full Post »

Gearing Up for NaNoWriMo

Posted in Travel, Writing, tagged challenges, nanowrimo, pat bean, postaday2011, sunrises on October 26, 2011| 9 Comments »

“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck

The best way to start any day is with an awesome sunrise, such as this one that I took in Harker Heights, Texas -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

Most mornings I start my day the exact same way. I awake with the sun, get up, fix coffee, catch up on my e-mail, savor my cream-laced coffee, look at the landscape outside my RV window and write my daily blog. At some point during this process, I take a break and walk my canine traveling companion, Maggie.

Many days, since unlike me Maggie likes to sleep in, I’ve already finished my blog before we go for our walk. My binoculars are usually around my neck and my camera is in my pocket for it’s usually on such walks that I get inspiration for my blogs.

This is the look Maggie gives me when she finally wakes up and has decided it's time for me to take her for a walk. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Then it’s back to my RV for some more writing – or procrastinating to write, which is just as likely.

Still, it’s fair to say that most of my day is spent in front of my computer – and that’s going to be even fairer to say in November since I’ve signed up to for NaNoWriMo. This is the abbreviated way of saying National Novel Writing Month, which has been held every year since 1999. It started with 21 participants and last year had over 200,000.

The goal is to write a novel in one month. Actually it’s to write a terrible novel of 50,000 words between Nov. 1 and Nov 30. The exercise is supposed to help increase productivity and halt a writer’s obsession with spending hours on making sure every sentence is perfect before going on to the next, to which I plead guilty.

I’ve signed up for the event quite a few times, but that procrastination addiction of mine won the month. I’ve signed up again this year – but this year I intend to win. My advantage is that this year I’m telling everyone what I’m doing in hopes that my pride will not let me down.

My goal is to write 2,500 words a day for six days a week, and then excuse myself from even signing on to my computer for one day a week. I figure I’ll need that one day to keep my sanity. I’ve been thinking I needed that even before I committed to NaNoWriMo.

To give myself a few days of extra time to think about characters, setting and plot for the AWFUL mystery I plan to write, beginning tomorrow I’m simply going to post photos of some of the best places I’ve visited over the past seven years of my travels with Maggie. I mean I’ve come too far meeting the daily blogging challenge to not make it to the end.

Hopefully my commitment to the NaNoWriMo challenge will also make it to the end. I’ll keep you up to date with its progress on my blog. Wish me luck.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »