Another day; another 12 hour shift.
Frankly, Joni and I have had some very negative events come along lately which have sapped our piggy bank bare. And then some. Take heart though, as I've been able to pick up some overtime. Like today; and, thankfully, a double shift tomorrow (which will make my walk quite complicated).
My walk tonight was a short one. The Western Jays were especially loud. West of the Rocky Mountains there are two varieties of blue jays: the Western Jay (sometimes called the "Scrub Jay") and the Stellar Jay. My favorite is the Stellar Jay (sometimes called Stellar's Jay). Joni and I took our name from a special experience we had with a Stellar Jay. First date romantic stuff. Early on, we deemed experiences with important animals to be mystical events. I believe they are.
Joni called me today at work. Since I work as a nurse, I can count the number of times Joni has called me at work on two hands. Usually such a call is prompted by some major event. That was true today.
"I took the girls for a walk and we ran across a bear!" Joni shouted into the phone. "It was really close. Angel ran up to it. The bear was light colored and about Jazmine's height at the shoulders." This was a big bear.
The kids said it was "Freaky Cool". Evidently they were quite close to this bear. How wonderful!
This isn't good news for those who have been working on domesticating our ridge. With any luck, the bear will tear down some fences, eat some chickens and remind us all of their Ursine Kingliness.
Animal encounters as mystical events: Absolutely!
If the Churches in our nation taught that an encounter with a wild animal was a harbinger from God (which is one way animals do survive in some cultures) then maybe some Wildness might have a chance to survive our boring Box Store economy.
What is a bear encounter worth on an economic scale? I think the MasterCard commercial might say "priceless".
4 comments:
Ah Allen...a bear encounter. I'm excited for your girls, not only that they saw a bear, but that described it as "freaky cool."
Yesterday the big bear found a couple of more friends...and they need many.
And yes the value on an economic scale is "priceless."
Oh how I love the bears.
Walk On(ward)
Larry
Thank you so much for this post. I do agree with you about animals and encounters with them being important mystical events. I have to admit that I am afraid of encountering a bear, but I am so glad for the attitude your family has. I live around snakes and coyotes and always feel privileged to see them. If only everyone was taught a healthy respect and awe for animals, this would be a different world.
I'm back home now, and catching up on trip reports. Saturday and Sunday at the Oregon Country Fair, I biked a combined:
18.14 miles
2:06
8.64 mph average (includes walking the bike through the fair and to the far car lot)
37.94 mph peak (I did find a hill)
I explored the fair neighborhood, delighted to have the GPS in my iPhone, so I wasn't in "what am I getting myself into?" or "I wonder if this is a dead end?" mode.
Sunday PM I did some significant hiking around the Coyote Trails property outside Ashland, visiting with family and friends there. Yesterday I got up at 4:30 AM and crashed at 11 PM, with many hours of driving between Ashland and home in an uncomfortable truck in between, and several errands in various places, but not much exercise. I want by solar/pedal bike to travel in...
Allan -- wow to the bear, and respect for the animal connections. I'm less pleasantly struck with what looks like intolerance of others' views in your piece about Angwin. I'm think that much of the Amerikan population would think your animal views are beyond the pale, and their intolerance is little different than yours of the Angwinites. Though I don't share their religious views, I would be delighted to live without the influences of alcohol and caffeine, which I think pull a veil over people's true selves, and move folks away from nature and humanness, ironically. I'm regularly struck that anti-Christian-ness is perhaps as weird a religion as some of the permutations of Christ's teachings. And maybe my anti anti-Christian-ness is too... ;-)
Best,
Ian
Thanks Larry and Jackijo...
Ian, as always I rather like it when you challenge me. :)
If I weren't so darned tired I'd put up a sterling defense of my impressions of Angwin. I'd also maybe balance it out a bit with some of the things I admire about this subsect.
But sleep awaits...
allan
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