Fading sunflower. I think it’s so beautiful.
Last Rose of Sharon. Despite the deer chomping on most of the buds, I did get about 6 flowers. Next year: more. And the bush will be protected.
If you follow me on Instagram, you already know about our ‘adventure’ yesterday. And by adventure, I mean an oh-my-god adventure.
I had been feeling out of sorts and edgy yesterday given the state of this country. At about 2 pm, I decided to take a little walk in our woods. I asked Don if he wanted to come along and he said yes. We did the usual – we took the main path that starts over by the shed. I was in the lead. We chatted about the vegetation and almost stopped to sit in the ‘park’ but decided not to. As we neared the first curve in the path, I looked to the right in the direction of a clearing that is right next to our property. We walk over there fairly frequently. It’s full of long grass, etc., but there are no trees in the clearing. Anyway, I looked over there and saw a black bear. He was probably 100 feet from us. It took me a moment to realize it was really a bear and then I alerted Don. He finally saw it. A big black bear on all fours. We stopped, mesmerized. The bear lifted his/her head and sniffed the air. Several times. He was picking up our scent. I started to walk back toward the entrance, telling Don we had to get out of there. Don clapped a couple of times to scare him off. He wasn’t scared. In fact, he took a couple of steps in our direction.
We left. Very quickly.
We were sure he/she had already taken off and we were fascinated by the unreality of what we saw, so we waited a bit, I grabbed our cowbell so we could make noise, and – yes, I know you think we’re crazy – we went back to the path. I think we were still stunned by what we’d seen and we also wanted to finish our walk. Sure enough, there was no sign of him. Sigh of relief.
We made the turn to the left on the path and headed toward Maple Grove. Don heard a sound, something that made him look back, and there was the bear.
Oh my god.
The bear was right at the edge of our property, still on our neighbor’s property, but nearer to us. And he was staring at us. I didn’t sense any aggression, but he was intently watching us. This time he was about 75 feet away. Not very far. As we stood there, frozen, he took a couple of steps toward us again. Oh boy. I said something like “Let’s get the hell out of here” to Don. We didn’t run, but we moved very quickly, down the path, through the back forty and into the house. The bear could have covered that 75 feet in a second.
Once in the house, we were feeling a strange mix of adrenaline, euphoria, and flat-out fear. I’ve never seen a bear that close before, not even in a zoo. His head was HUGE. I mean, unbelievable!
Needless to say, we stayed in the house until I ventured out to water the garden a few hours later. The entire time I watered, I kept looking up at the woods, even though the chances of a bear emerging from the woods in the daytime were almost nil.
By the time the end of the evening came around, it was really hitting us. We had been very, very close to a big black bear and that bear warned us off. Twice. I wonder if there were cubs nearby. Black bears don’t attack very often, but if they feel threatened, they do.
Holy crap.
As Don said, and I quote, “The sensation of wonder, mystical connection, and soiling yourself.”
I concur.
It was scary as hell, but in the middle of it all we were simply mesmerized. In fact, after the whole thing ended, Don had an urge to go back there. That’s the draw; you’re so fascinated that you want to see it again. Needless to say, I disabused him of that notion immediately.
The bear was magnificent. Truly stunning.
But I don’t want to run into him again.
You might remember that I saw a big black bear walking across the top of the back forty a few years ago. Again, I was frozen, but that time I was standing by my car and the bear didn’t even notice me.
And our neighbors have seen mama bears and cubs. That happened last year, I think.
Yesterday was such an intense day. We were finishing our deductions trying to get them to our accountant by the end of the day, Don was dealing with the ramifications of turning down an audition for a small, low budget film because he doesn’t feel safe doing that yet and wrestling with the guilt of turning it down. We had a long talk about that. Driving to a set north of us, coming home at night, possibly endangering me…we just had to admit that since film is barely starting up and we have no sense of whether safety protocols will be successful or not, we’d rather wait another month at least. But if you’re an actor, you always feel you should audition, hence the guilt.
And then the bear.
We would like a quiet day today.
Stay safe.
Happy Tuesday.
Holy cow!! Or holy bear!! What an amazing encounter! We’ve seen bears closer than that at our house…BUT we were inside and they were out. I can’t imagine how being so near and hearing the sniffing must have been. Don summed it up very well. You should check out the spirit animal info on bears…very interesting. The poor bears have confusion about their traditional environment too and they are getting very bold around here, not aggressively but too familiar with humans, usually not in their favor. Difficult decisions about work. I don’t think the virus situation will become safer any time soon, but neither will economic situations. Stay safe!
I’ll check out the sprite animal information, Nora.
Thank you and stay safe!
I quite like bears – from a safe distance. There is an enormous bear carved from black granite beside our river. The piece is called ‘Mother Bear Prays for Earth Healing’. I stop and give her a pat every time I go for a ramble.
I love them. They’re gorgeous. But not as close as we were to one yesterday. That was stunning but could have been quite dangerous.
Stay safe, Barbara!
Here in rural North West Jersey we see bears in the yard nearly every day.
They sometimes stop for a dip in the pond if it’s hot. While we love seeing them, we respect them and keep a reasonable distance. They are magnificent creatures. I am surprised that you don’t see more of them where you live!
We live in a heavily wooded area where bears usually hang out, not out in the open. And we have a mountain range across the road and most bears are seen up there, at higher elevations.
We’ve seen them from the house, from the car, but NOTHING is the same as seeing one as close as we did yesterday, with no barrier between us. That has never happened before.
Stay safe.
Wow that certainly broke the monotony didn’t it? Don’t be surprised if bear starts coming in closer. Maybe keep a whistle on you. I walk the trails in our state parks with one but mainly to alert someone if I get lost It might work on a bear. I thought going to the grocery store was nerve wracking. Be safe.
We’ll carry the cow bell, which is quite loud. Our woods is rather small, so seeing this guy that close was unnerving, to say the least.
Stay safe.
Only in up close encounters like that does one really appreciate the wild world. I’ve never seen a bear in person and wouldn’t want to. There are rescue black bear family and rescue Grizzly bears at the local zoo. That’s the closest I’d want to see one!
I know how careful you and Don are. I hope your industry figures out the safety protocols to protect all involved so there is work for you, and entertainment for us.
I got a molar extraction yesterday. Will be resting all day even though I feel fine.
Sorry about the tooth extraction. I’ve been there!
Take it easy and stay safe, Wendy!
Wow! I saw a bear while canoeing down a river in PA as a teenager. We got quite close but we were moving down the river and he had been fishing. He looked up and I guess both of us decided the other was not an issue but I know what you mean by the awe – it all felt quite unreal and I remember that feeling well!
Take care!
They are certainly majestic. And big!
Stay safe, Jane!
My understanding is we could see more bears in populated areas, this year, as there is a shortage of things like wild berries that they fill up on before going into hibernation. To my knowledge any seen around our area are not aggressive but they are so desperate for food, they are not as easily scared away. There have been several “sightings” in our area of Minnesota – my husband saw one as it crossed the road, on his way to work. We have seen several over the years. What’s funny is that 25 years ago, in August, we were in Alaska, with a team of people, looking for bear – never saw one. Lots of paw prints – lots of scratched trees – lots of scat, but no bears.
I hope they find food. In our area, there’s a drought, so that doesn’t help.
Thanks, Ranee.
Stay safe!
The closest I’ve ever come was spotting bear tracks when I was hiking alone in Vermont fifty years ago. I skedaddled.
We’ve had bear scat on the property before. And we also saw a bear cub not long after we moved in.
Stay safe, Margaret!
Oh! My! Gosh! Fascinating and mostly scary!!
I know!
Stay safe, Tana.
Up close is amazing, but not my preferred bear sighting!
My bear story is enjoying my morning bowl of Wheaties on the headwaters of the American River and seeing a cinnamon-colored black bear just twenty feet downstream. I was upwind and the riffles were noisy, so it had no idea I was there, but you can bet I beat a quiet and hasty retreat to our campsite. Beautiful and memorable!
We see bear scat close by on our morning walks as they come down to forage this time of year on all the fallen fruit as we are close to the urban/wild interface. Occasionally, there are huge, muddy pawprints on the trails. Fortunately, we’ve never come face-to-face–probably because our walks involve a lot of talk and laughter. Total respect for our wild neighbors!
Yes, we have bear scat on out property occasionally. And we’ve seen some tracks. I bet they love all the orchards around here!
Thanks, Roxie.
Stay safe.
Claudia, Claudia, Claudia. I would have run back to my house, slammed the door and, well, I dunno what! But I do recall being at Yosemite National Park and paralleling a bear on a pathway between trees in what they call the ‘housekeeping’ cabins, or did (in the 60s), and Mom just kept quiet, saying “Keep walking.” She’d spent a lot of time up there with friends who worked in the park year ’round and had become bear-wise (but that was the 1940s!).
There’s nothing much predicable about wild animals. We’ve had episodes where I live of mountain lions coming out of the canyons in drought. They’re already having their problems or they wouldn’t be doing that, which means they’re stressed, so there’d be instructionals in our local newspaper as to what to do if encountering one (and I used to think, ‘Really? Waving my hands and arms might be enough?’).
So sad with the wildfires here in the West, the images on television of the wildlife coming out of the hilly, wooded areas, so dazed. They’re asking homeowners (all of us) to help them along their way by putting out buckets of water for them to drink. The one news piece I saw did feature a bear on the move. Lost habitat of course. So much loss in general. Too much loss.
I hope you do have a quiet day. I’d just like to have one day where I didn’t have to breathe in (or see) oppressive smoke. Maybe after 9 days of it, it’ll be better today for SoCalif. Just tell that to my throat, nose and eyes.
Prayers to everyone on the Gulf Coast. All those hurricanes sitting out there in the ocean, stacked up and waiting to come ashore … very concerning.
I worry so about all the animals in the fires. I can’t let myself think about it too much or I start to cry.
We’re on Chrysalis Watch here. The chrysalis has become more transparent and you can see the monarch wings. We spent a great part of the day observing, but then I heard it can be up to 48 hours before it emerges. My friend, who raises them, says it might very well be early tomorrow morning. I hope I don’t miss it, but I’ve been so lucky to see it become clear and to see the orange and black wings tucked inside the chrysalis.
Stay safe.
Oh my word, Claudia! I remember you mentioning bears previously and my being amazed at how close wildlife is to civilisation in America. To actually have such a close encounter must have been terrifying and exhilarating at the same time!
Happy Tuesday
You have it exactly right. It was both!
Stay safe, Dee Dee!
What a mysterious and sometimes perplexing existence we are living during these times. A BEAR, yes – that is a shocker. Thankful that you are safe but intrigued. Just two evenings ago, a bear was seen walking down the street in a nearby neighborhood , four minute drive from my house here in California. That location borders on an undeveloped area. But, yikes, that is very close. So many unusual life events. I have foxes visiting my property every night as evidenced by their fresh daily scat left in the far corner away from my house. This just started recently and I saw a Red Fox on my neighbors property at 9 AM a few mornings ago. Somewhat unusual for daytime. And, that was a first for me to see a live fox nearby. Stay safe and alert as I know you certainly will. I always enjoy your blog. Best of the Best to both of you.
We have foxes around here, as well. I haven’t seen any lately, but I’ve seen mama foxes and kits before and they’ve run through our property. They’re really beautiful.
Thanks so much, Mary.
Stay safe!
Well…that certainly enlivened your day! I sincerely hope your walks will now include the cow bell every time ?
Take care…and stay safe….and keep an eye out for bears!! ;)
No sign of him today. Don walked the path, saying he was ‘reclaiming’ his property. I was on chrysalis watch. That butterfly is going to emerge soon.
Stay safe, Donna.
That is exciting! Take lots of pics! ;)
xo
OMG!!!!!! A bear!!!!!
I loved the sunflower photo. Too bad you didn’t get a photo of the black bear. After all, you did have two chances! Only kidding, I would have backed away all the way back to the house and then stayed inside until winter. 😊
The time that I saw a huge bear walking across the back of our property I had my phone with me but was so shocked I didn’t even think of taking a photo.
Yesterday, no phone. Only a cowbell that I never rang!
Stay safe, Janice.
I did see your story on IG about the bear. I can imagine how startling it must have been to come face to face with a huge bear so unexpectedly. Reminded me of when my brother’s family lived in eastern Oregon in a small town in the mountains years ago. When we hiked in the mountains we always carried noisemakers because there were so many bears in the area. I never got to see one up close but not long after my last visit they lost their kitty Emmy Lou to an encounter with a bear. My sister-in-law said that, knowing Emmy, she probably was standing her ground and thinking she could scare the bear away from their yard.
Not too many years later, my other brother, living in Connecticut at the time, also lost one of their kitties to a black bear. Around here, small dogs are being snatched by coyotes. I’m so glad we’ve never let our cats wander outside. And I’m relieved we only have to deal with a few deer and the odd fox passing through.
Take care.
Kay
I would never let my cat (if I had one) outside. There are too many predators out there. And my dog would be on a leash if there was any chance of a coyote. We always stood at the door, ready to run outside, when we let our dogs out in the corral.
Thanks, Kay.
Stay safe.
oh, dear! i am so glad you and don are safe!
your “adventure” sounds both thrilling and scary. along with the cowbell (“more cowbell!” … haha … couldn’t resist), i hope you also always bring your cellphones and a long stick with you on walks. and need only use the cellphones to take photos.
loved don’s summation of the experience!
sorry you both have to deal with that job situation. i keep you all in prayers.
and the chrysalis …! part looks like it was painted with gold … and to see the orange and black wings through the chrysalis, about ready to come out … thank you for the photos. hope you get to see it emerge!
i sure hope you had a quiet day today and another one tomorrow.
usual day here. glad to be home. might read more of that agatha christie book or i might fall asleep early. don’t care which and my body will decide. haha.
hope you have a nice night.
stay safe!
kathy in iowa
Thanks, Kathy!
I’m off to watch the chrysalis.
Stay safe.
meant to add …
want to share something i saw today … a drawing of the us constitution anthropomorphized and standing in front of the white house and it says “you know what’s a great disinfectant? the 25th amendment!” i’d laugh, but i am too angry that people with the legal power and responsibility/oaths of office to do anything about it are doing nothing about it.
sorry for bringing that up too close to bedtime. hope you sleep well.
xo
kathy in iowa
Love that, Kathy!
That drawing sounds right on the money, Kath.
xo
I can’t even begin to imagine the feelings in your head, both during and then after when it really hits. Two such close calls. It may well have had no ill intent but boy, who wants to take that chance again.
Oh, the job thing — how very frustrating. Yes, passing on the audition is probably a good idea. If you’re chosen and you just can’t do it because of the concerns? That’s not a good situation either. He did the right thing. But sometimes the right thing is so very hard.
It is very hard, indeed.
Thanks, Jeanie.
Stay safe.