A Bear-y Scary Story

Have you ever been alone in the woods, at dusk... and realized that you're not alone, afterall?

Something big, black, and hulking is foraging for food about 20 feet away. It doesn't see you yet, but it will see you. It has to see you because you need to walk past it if you're going to make it back to your house.

And suddenly your house seems so far away... as in a dream. You start to walk. Your walk becomes a trot.

Where's the door? Why is it locked? What's that noise behind you??

BEAR ATTACK!!!!!!

Well. That's almost what happened. Here's a more tediously factual account:

I was weeding in my garden at dusk, sitting on a stool among the tomato plants. It was quiet and I was alone, daydreaming and not paying attention to my surroundings. After a few minutes I became aware that something large was breathing nearby.

I thought I would look up and see a large dog (which would also have been alarming). As it was, there was a bear. I've never seen one in the wild before, but have dreamed about and dreaded an encounter over the years, so the whole thing was fairly surreal.

I don't think the bear knew I was present when it first approached the garden. But it definitely saw me after I got up and started walking toward the house. The bear ambled away into the woods.

Once safely indoors, I marvelled at the whole thing. Wow. I went downstairs and told the family, and Jon immediately headed outside to look for it (he also goes outside to look for severe weather, too). Me and the kids tagged after him, expecting the bear was long-gone but hoping it wasn't. Amazingly, it was still visible. We watched it walk through our woods. Then it crossed the road and vanished among the neighbor's trees. For such a large animal, it was amazingly silent. Squirrels make more noise in the woods.

I know people have been seeing bears more frequently in recent years, but it was still a surprise to find one's living in our midst. There weren't any of the usual signs of bear presence you sometimes hear about. Our garbage cans are outdoors and flimsy but have never been disturbed. We have bird feeders all over the property, but large animals have never knocked them over. Our dog barks at squirrels and anyone who approaches the door, but took a nice, peaceful nap while the bear walked by. I looked for tracks the next day around the garden, and couldn't see any foot prints in the ground whatsoever.

If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would still think we didn't have any bears around here.

Anyway! That's my Bear Story.

The month of June came and went so fast. The kids finished summer school last week, though Emma still has Little League and Michael still has band.

Jon has been home so far this summer, but will head to North Dakota next week. Lately he's been helping our farmer neighbor with her hay.

We have four chickens in the backyard, now. Besides Dot and Pumpkin, we also have Ulga (pictured at left) and Chicken Jane. So far Pumpkin is the only one who lays any eggs, though.

Mom and Dad visited us last week. While they were over, Jon walked Macy (the horse) over to our house. She ate grass from our lawn and Jon trimmed her hooves a little.

We saw Mom and Dad again on the 4th of July, at cousin Peggy Linskey's potluck lunch in Holcombe. As usual, it was sweltering hot at Peggy's house, but there was plenty of good food and pleasant conversation with long-lost cousins and other family. Here's Dad talking to his youngest brother, Chuck.

Emma had a good time jumping on the trampoline with the other kids. I can't identify all of these children, but the two on the right belong to our cousin Rose (Voss). Michael spent most of the time playing in the shade of a big willow tree with my cousin Ann Richter's son Craig, who is slightly younger than Michael but very close in age.

Here's Leila scrounging for ice cubes with one of cousin Peggy Linskey's grandchildren:

After the picnic we went to Bud and Jane's house. We visited on the porch, and Leila had a much-needed nap before we headed over to Phil's summer cottage for more socializing (and fireworks). It was near-dark when we arrived, so I don't have pictures from that, but it was a good time. Leila was remarkably unimpressed with the fireworks. Not only did they not frighten her, but she seemed inclined to ignore them altogether.

Well, hope everyone reading this also had a good time celebrating the 4th! Happy Birthday, good ol' US of A!