.August
26th, 1997
8pm MST
Big Elk Meadows, Colorado
The little garden area along side the driveway had need some
attention all
summer. The two previous summers, the area had been full of
colorful
poppies. They don't show up until August, so we had patiently
waited for
them to arrive this year. Nothing happened. Must be that one of
the dogs
dug everything up.
I was tired of looking at the forlorn dirt so when I saw pansies
on sale at
K-Mart, I decided that these were just the right things for the
area.
Pansies are one of the few things that the wildlife here in the
mountains
will not eat. Also, they will come back year after year, if we
keep the
doggies under control.
It was about 8pm. I decided to get a start on planting while it
was cool
outside. It had been so hot all day that it felt refreshing to
sit down on
the pavement next to the garden. I began digging in the dirt. It
was good
black dirt. I think so many things have been planted in this
little area
over the years that the soil is especially rich; everyone added a
little
more goodness to the soil as they planted.
I looked up at the sky
and marveled once again at the beauty of the evening colors; pink
clouds, shades
of blue darkening, and that wonderful golden glow. It was very
quiet and
very still. I began to feel very much one with the earth, the
sky, the
plants, the air. Nothing was separate. We were all one. A great
horned
owl was hooting. I looked for him in the trees, but couldn't see
him. As I
became more and more in tune with my surroundings, I sensed that
something
was moving into this space that had not been there a moment
before. A
vision of a bear came into my mind. It was starting to get a
little darker
and I began to have an uneasy feeling. I planted a few more
pansies,
wanting to finish the job before it was too dark. I stopped
planting for a
moment and looked off into the front yard. There he was...a black
bear!!!
My 11 month old
Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Shogun saw him a moment later.
Shogun ran toward the bear, barking like crazy. Luckily, he
stopped 20 feet
away from the bear. I began screaming, "Shogun, Shogun,
Shogun," and
started clapping my hands together, making as much noise as I
could. The
bear turned and ran off and Shogun ran back to me.
I began to pick up my shovel, trowel, and hand rake. Jessica
Johnson, our
next door neighbor came out onto her porch with her kids. She
yelled over,
"A bear just walked through our back yard!" With that,
I pulled the trash
barrel into the garage and closed the garage doors. Looks like it
is time
to bring in everything from the refrigerator in the garage.
Well, I thought we were going to make it through the whole summer
this year
without the bears. We will just have to be a little more careful
and
respect our "wild" neighbors.
by
Marty Vyn
Boennighausen