Bear In Mind

©Linda Wegner One Time Rights
Word Count: 669

BEAR IN MIND

Do I have a whale of a story for you! (Actually, it's a bear of a story but it's true and it happened to me one blistering day in mid August.)

Since the employees and independent contractors of the company I work for reside in countries around the world, we rarely have personal interaction with each other. Other than our annual conference, conversations are limited to telephone calls and I doubt if there's ever been a year when everyone was able to attend the conference. In lieu of face-to-face meetings, the top brass decided to make a video of the “home towns” of as many of us as wanted to participate. The end result of the project will be an “introduction” to the people and a glimpse of the various places around the world where we work.  I was one of those who volunteered to contribute to the project by recording narrative and submitting photos of our community.

I got some good shots, including a few close-ups of my feet and some great gravel roads. Lest I disgrace myself and our beautiful community I decided to ask a friend, who's also the manager of our tourism department and a professional photographer, to help me. Darren gladly agreed to take a morning off in the interests of publishing our community (after all, that's the purpose of his job) so on a beautiful Friday morning we set out to capture the images of as many of our area's treasures as possible. One of the several stops on the venture was a section of the Sunshine Coast Trail, just minutes from where hubbie and I live.

Darren and I headed down the pathway until we found the perfect spot to begin the process. I described the surroundings and related some of the history of the area while he photographed.  Other than my voice the only other sounds that morning were those of birds in the forest and the slurping of waves against the shore. The silent serenity of the place was nearly overwhelming.

After a few minutes of drinking in the beauty of the lake and forest it was time to move on to the next attraction. We headed back, both too engrossed in the stillness of the trail to say anything. That's when a sudden crash and Darren's whispered warning, “bear” broke the spell.

Although I'd had three earlier sightings this spring, none had been so close nor had any bruin seemed as huge as this current Mr. Bear. Apparently we'd been sharing the same trail when we startled him. No more than half a dozen feet from us, he leapt to a tree where he clung to a slender branch end eyed us up. I froze; Darren filmed. It wasn't until Mr. Bear began to snort and wave his paws that we decided to high-tail it back to the truck. In all honesty the experience was so exhilarating that it wasn't until later that night I realized how different the outcome could have been.

I have no particular moral to this story other than the recognized truth that creatures of the forest were here before me and it's probably best to give them the right of way.

Having said that, wouldn't it be great if every potential disaster turned out the way this one did? Hearing stories of folks who have suffered a mauling from a wild animal never again will seem so removed from my situation.  In making that statement, however, I can't help but think of those farmers and producers who are facing the “bear” of forest fires that threaten homes, livestock and livelihood. I wish I had the magical power to make it all stop, but I don't. I don't even have any profound words of wisdom to offer. I simply wish you safety, resilience and encouragement. For the rest of us I trust we will have the smarts to respect Mother Nature and keep our hearts open to help those around us who need a helping hand.