I Saw a Bear and a Bear Saw Me
It was a beautiful evening, the kind you want to capture and hold close and remember. The sun was setting after a warm day, the wind was sending a cool breeze making the outdoor temperatures pretty much perfect. The children were enjoying being outside.
The clouds were doing a dancing act in the sky. In particular, one big fluffy cloud kept being illuminated by the lightning streaks from behind it. It was fascinating to watch.
The evening was further commemorated by a smore party around the first true campfire of the season. There were all the yummy smore fixings: graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, Symphony bars, Kit Kats, Candy cane bars, peanut butter, and nutella. This was a real "smoregasboard".
The wind was wreaking a bit of havoc with the smoke sending it swirling in all directions around the campfire making sitting down comfortably in one place a practice in perilous times. It was better to stand and be ready to move on around the circle when the smoke came your way. (Spiritual application anyone?)
And then it was time to take the niece home. All the ladies jumped on the four-wheeler, leaving the men to bond around the fire and hopefully start cleaning up maybe? We headed out, continuing to notice the big fluffy cloud. As we turned out of the field lane onto the road, what should we see but a big black bear.
Now one thing I should mention before going any further is I do not like bears. (Is it bear or bears?) I have been known to run in the house and close the windows at a bear sighting some 500 plus yards away on the other side of the road and clear back by the woods. Now, I was much, much younger at that time, so have a little pity on me. Anyway, I slowed the four-wheeler down and considered my options. And the bear just looked at me.
I wasn't sure if I had seen some smaller objects go scuttling off into the ditch on the other side of the road and getting between a mama bear and her cubs was not high on my bucket list at all. So, I did what any smart driver would do, I continued to pause and think.
I drove forward a bit and the bear kept looking at me.
I paused a bit more and considered further. And the bear kept watching me.
I drove forward a bit more and the bear moved about three feet toward the woods and kept watching me.
I paused a little, uncertain, what should I do?
Then this very brainy thought came to me, I am on a four-wheeler, I'm pretty sure I can "outrun" this bear if he or she decides to be unfriendly, so with this new found courage, I crept forward a bit more, hoping the bear would turn tail and run. Because I still didn't want to drive by a bear sitting on the edge of the road.
I drove a bit and finally the bear ambled to the side of the road. Oh joy. Then, he or she stopped again and sat up on its haunches. And I thought now what.
But remember, I can drive faster than a bear can run, so I should just put the throttle down and go, so I inched forward a bit more, trying to instill confidence in the four-wheeler. And then finally, the bear loped off into the woods and we saw it moving back as we raced by.
And we dropped the niece off and admired the sky some more and thought about what we would do if we met the same bear on the way back home and then finally decided to be brave and we headed for home. And on the way, the little girl completely tuckered out by her experiences succumbed to sleep for a few heartbeats and we arrived home where she informed the males of the family what we had seen. And, of course, the male was quite jealous that we had seen the bear and not him. And of course, I was also wishing he had been along as well so I could have fully and effectively freaked out as I am quite sure he would have happily chased that bear with much more vigor than I had.
And all of this on a beautiful evening in May and not one picture to capture the event. But as it has been said, sometimes we need to put the camera down and capture the evening in words instead of photographs. So there you have it!!
The clouds were doing a dancing act in the sky. In particular, one big fluffy cloud kept being illuminated by the lightning streaks from behind it. It was fascinating to watch.
The evening was further commemorated by a smore party around the first true campfire of the season. There were all the yummy smore fixings: graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate bars, Symphony bars, Kit Kats, Candy cane bars, peanut butter, and nutella. This was a real "smoregasboard".
The wind was wreaking a bit of havoc with the smoke sending it swirling in all directions around the campfire making sitting down comfortably in one place a practice in perilous times. It was better to stand and be ready to move on around the circle when the smoke came your way. (Spiritual application anyone?)
And then it was time to take the niece home. All the ladies jumped on the four-wheeler, leaving the men to bond around the fire and hopefully start cleaning up maybe? We headed out, continuing to notice the big fluffy cloud. As we turned out of the field lane onto the road, what should we see but a big black bear.
Now one thing I should mention before going any further is I do not like bears. (Is it bear or bears?) I have been known to run in the house and close the windows at a bear sighting some 500 plus yards away on the other side of the road and clear back by the woods. Now, I was much, much younger at that time, so have a little pity on me. Anyway, I slowed the four-wheeler down and considered my options. And the bear just looked at me.
I wasn't sure if I had seen some smaller objects go scuttling off into the ditch on the other side of the road and getting between a mama bear and her cubs was not high on my bucket list at all. So, I did what any smart driver would do, I continued to pause and think.
I drove forward a bit and the bear kept looking at me.
I paused a bit more and considered further. And the bear kept watching me.
I drove forward a bit more and the bear moved about three feet toward the woods and kept watching me.
I paused a little, uncertain, what should I do?
Then this very brainy thought came to me, I am on a four-wheeler, I'm pretty sure I can "outrun" this bear if he or she decides to be unfriendly, so with this new found courage, I crept forward a bit more, hoping the bear would turn tail and run. Because I still didn't want to drive by a bear sitting on the edge of the road.
I drove a bit and finally the bear ambled to the side of the road. Oh joy. Then, he or she stopped again and sat up on its haunches. And I thought now what.
But remember, I can drive faster than a bear can run, so I should just put the throttle down and go, so I inched forward a bit more, trying to instill confidence in the four-wheeler. And then finally, the bear loped off into the woods and we saw it moving back as we raced by.
And we dropped the niece off and admired the sky some more and thought about what we would do if we met the same bear on the way back home and then finally decided to be brave and we headed for home. And on the way, the little girl completely tuckered out by her experiences succumbed to sleep for a few heartbeats and we arrived home where she informed the males of the family what we had seen. And, of course, the male was quite jealous that we had seen the bear and not him. And of course, I was also wishing he had been along as well so I could have fully and effectively freaked out as I am quite sure he would have happily chased that bear with much more vigor than I had.
And all of this on a beautiful evening in May and not one picture to capture the event. But as it has been said, sometimes we need to put the camera down and capture the evening in words instead of photographs. So there you have it!!
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