A Beary Good Day

Know how I love my bears! It is so amazing the connection we have to nature. Nature is nurishing for the soul. On those rainy, dreary, grey days our own spirits are quieter within. When referenced the sunshine and energizing, rainy days are quieter a time to snug up with a peaceful book and warm blanket. Life does not stop going on in the wilderness for rain. Sometimes the opposite. It is not always the best conditions to pack a camera around or to tromp outside and get cold wet feet. As much as capturing the perfect photo of wildlife burns the passion in my heart, some days are just for soaking it in and storing the image away to keep to yourself. But, if you choose to stay inside snuggled by the fire with mocha in hand, know you might miss something that can energize the soul.

Over cast days are perfect lighting for photography, of course raindrops on the lense blur the image. When you are being super observant and trying to spy with the eyes something precious, nature has its own way of camouflaging to protect animals

. Why does a fawn have spots? Look onto a clear cut with dirt, new growth, green leaves and daisies! From a distance a patch of daisies on a dirt hillside look like the spotted fawn bedded down waiting for mom to return. So what hides a big old black bear? Some days you have to study the clear cut and wait for what you thought was a stump, to move.

Today I had help finding that young cinnamon bear known to the neighbors as Charlie Brown. Walking the pups for a morning ritual dear Shasta has the nose and knows and will let you know, we are not alone. Ok she is a dog, and both my dogs perk up over a squirrel. But Shasta has a keen sense of that bigger game and can smell a bear that has crossed our path within the past 15 minutes. She lets me know with her excited huffing, whining and ears perked, tail up......there is a bear close by. By the way, bears are usually afraid of dogs, and another reason Shasta is leashed. Her excitement for a bear equals mine but in a different manner. Why does a bear have an impact on our soul? A quote from “Sacred Paw” (p. xi): “The bear is kind of an ideogram of people in nature reminding us of what we have lost: wily, smart, strong, fast, agile and independent in ways we humans have left behind. The bear symbolizes the harmony of society and nature, a harmony disrupted in the modern world.”

Today was a special day. Seeing a bear does lift my inner passion, calming the spirit of all the craziness in the world around and refresh my energies with something powerful like a medicine. Today, I saw Charlie Brown. Waiting for the dark brown stump that moved, lifted his head and watching the magnitude in the force of the paw dig at the dirt and then shakes off the rain like a dog after a bath. Something so massive and eating bugs. Who is Charlie? We have watched him for the 2 years prior when he was a twin cub and hanging close to mom. I did not expect to see him in this area, so close to his mom's domain. But even way up on the clear cut, his size, his cinnamon brown color but his face. His face has a lighter tint not just on the nose but around the eyes and it stood out when he looked down at us hearing Shasta's excitement. He quickly made a u turn and headed up the hill in the rain.

Today's encounter marks 5 different bears sighted this season, still missing 3 from last year. Will he return? Or was it a quick passing by so we know he is ok? Either way it was a beary good day.

"when life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles" Winnie the Pooh Bear