A Bear-y Nice Day in Rural Paradise

This is a story of the joys of living in a somewhat “rural” area.

I’m out taking a walk on Thursday morning, just around my neighborhood. As this story unfolds, you should know that  Thursday is trash collection day in my neighborhood.

I always carry my phone with me when I walk, just in case something happens, or I happen to see something that might make for a good picture. On Thursday, the latter happened.

I was walking along, and I stepped on something. I looked down to see what it was, and my head was turned down for a moment or two. Some movement caught my eye, so I looked up to find myself about 10 feet from, and walking closer to, a black bear.

My heart pounded so loud I would have thought the whole town would hear it. I remembered everything I’ve ever learned about close encounters with a bear. So instead of running and screaming, which was my first instinct, I turned slowly and walked away. He (or she…why is it that we always call animals he?) looked at me, but didn’t make any move. Of course, I did what anyone would do and snapped a picture before I walked away.

Pretty exciting stuff. Even though I’ve seen bears around town many times before, this is the first time I’ve ever been quite that close to one.