Wednesday night, a bear was sighted right here in town! I’m not kidding. News of this sort usually makes us city dwellers shiver and gather our pets and children inside the house. I wonder, though, why the bear was on a busy expressway and if he had lost his way? How far had he traveled? We have o’possums, raccoons, skunks, and other small animals in town. Next to housing developments are trees and pastures. Cows and horses graze behind fences close to busy streets. It’s kind of nice. In fact, I hope those pastures stay and never succumb to so-called “progress”. I have a feeling that the bear-who-came-visiting had ancestors in this area a long time before people were here. If there’s any trespassing, it’s on the part of us humans. We’ve entered into his natural habitat. Perhaps the bear Wednesday night was trying to see what was so great about the way we, the intruders, live!
I like bears fine. I like them better when they stay in the woods and forests. I don’t think I’d care for being introduced to a bear up close. I don’t like to see them in zoos or in cages. I want them to be happy in the wild and I want to be happy in my natural habitat.
The only bears I enjoy up close and personal go by the name of Teddy. Sara has a beloved teddy bear. She has had Bear-Bear since she was a year old. He’s a wonderful little fellow and when Sara was small, Bear-Bear went wherever she went. He got lost so many times that Dawn had a name tag printed for him. He wore it on a collar around his neck so if he wandered away from home, whoever found him would know how to contact his owner.
Bear-Bear was once a beautiful little companion with a round cuddly body, two shiny black eyes, a lovely nose , a mouth that always smiled, and a perky bow around his neck. His eyes lost their sheen because of his many experiences in a washing machine. His nose was kissed off and his smile–well– I’m not sure where it went but, we can tell that he’s still happy, especially when he’s with Sara.
Time has sort of taken away his robust physique but that’s okay. Although he’s a little limp, he is much more poseable with not quite so much stuffing inside. He can’t go wherever Sara goes nowadays and, in fact, she wouldn’t want him to, so he waits patiently at home. She has lots of other interests and doesn’t need the funny little bear as much as she once did but it’s nice to know he’s there.
I hope that the real, live bear who came visiting found his way back home. And I hope he stays there! It’s not that we humans are an inhospitable group but there is a language and a cultural barrier between bears and us. I don’t believe he would fit into our lifestyle any more than we would fit into his. So, good luck, Explorer Bear, with your inquisitive ways. May you have a long, happy life, and may you live it deep in the forest, far away from houses, cars, pets, and people. And, please don’t take this wrong, but I hope you don’t pay a return visit any time soon.
Speak Your Mind