I live on a small road on the dege of the country – there are suburban homes on one end of my road, open farm fields on the other, and lots of woods surrounding it all. Sometimes, the world reminds me of my surroundings.
On Sunday night, when it was very cold and clear, I went outside at night to throw stuff in my compost pile. The stars were bright in the black night sky. Just as bright were a pair of disembodied bright blue animal eyes that shone at me like lanterns out of the darkness, then turned away. I have no idea what the animal was; A fox? A house cat? A raccoon? A bobcat? But to see them in the darkness was both spooky and wonderful.
Then last night, at midnight, my dog Bella insisted there was something outside. I let her out, thinking “crazy German Shepherd.” A few minutes later, I looked again and saw my bird feeders scattered on the ground and realized a black bear was in the yard.
This is largely my fault _ I should have started taking the feeders in at night a couple of weeks ago. But I have to make one bear mistake a year to remind myself they’re now out of their dens and looking for food anywhere and everywhere. Living is one thing. Learning is another.
