RUNNING BEAR

Summer has always been my favorite time of the year.  On a farm however, there is always so much to do and never enough time to enjoy the little things.   Walks in the country were by far the most enjoyable activity that I tried to do on a daily basis, and it was at times adventurous.   Hard to believe that something so relaxing could end up being a race for my life.

I watched everyone working in the fields as I walked past, and greeted them all with a quick wave.  The hay wagons were wobbling as usual with their loads of fresh hay coming in off of the fields and the fresh smell was intoxicating.  All was right with the universe and I was about to enjoy my little journey once again.  As I passed over the first hill and began to return home I noticed something off to the right begin to move.  Trees were beginning to snap, and there was the unmistakable sound of an animal growling and moving toward me and the road in a very swift fashion.  I began to panic a bit as I waited to see what was coming my way.  I certainly didn’t want to move any closer to the noise, so I froze.  There was a strong odor along with the growling that was now getting much more intense and still moving very rapidly.  The path that this animal was making was noticeably wide, the trees were now snapping at record pace and my heart was beginning to move into my throat.

As the final row of trees snapped off, I could see a very innocent looking small black bear walk into the clearing, followed by a not so innocent looking, very large black bear.  A bear with big teeth and drool, who was very upset that I was anywhere in the vicinity of its cub!

I knew that I was in danger and realized the ferocity of a mother protecting its young.  I froze and couldn’t move, I began to analyze all my options.  Could I out run the bear? Should I climb anyone of the hundreds of trees up and down the road?  Could I even make it to a neighbor’s house running full throttle, which would probably not be wise, for my age, a heart attack would be more likely than outrunning a huge black bear who was in defense mode.

My mind was racing, my heart was pounding and sweat was beginning to cover every crevice of my body.  Prayer seemed like a good idea at which point the mother bear pulled back on her haunches standing at its full height.  The biggest bear that I had ever seen was now standing in all of its glory, so close to me!  She began to growl as she swung her head from side to side; seemingly trying to figure out why I was there, which is exactly what I was doing?

Her cub was running around in front of her, misbehaving not unlike any unruly child.  As she brought her front paws back to the ground she began to move my way and I knew that running was the wrong thing to do.  I had been instructed to stand down a bear, which sounded sensible, running would only show fear and provoke the bear.  But as the bear began to descend the hill, it was jiggling like a big bowl of Jello, and beginning to move rather quickly and in my direction!  Baby bear was right behind mother bear and we were all headed down the hill rather swiftly….

All of my common sense went right out the window and I turned in the opposite direction yelling, running and praying that someone would venture down this very quiet dirt road that was unfortunately in a rather remote location…..   It was as though an angel had heard my pleas and out of literally no where, an old car came barreling down the dirt road, dust flying behind it as though it had driven right out of the clouds, and was now headed in my direction.  Undaunted and terrified I stood right in the middle of the road waving my arms and yelling.  As the vehicle approached me, I could see a man in his twenties with a crew cut and blond hair; he was wearing a black tee shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve of his shirt.  He pulled up to me and I reached into his vehicle, screaming, while grabbing his shirt yelling “bear, bear!”  Completely unfazed he said, “Get in” and I obediently ran around the vehicle and climbed into the front seat of his car.  I quickly told him that there was a bear chasing me and asked “would he take me back to the farm?” 

I noticed that his vehicle was one that I had never seen before.  I couldn’t help but notice that the windows in his car rattled as we drove along and the car was meticulously clean.  He looked as though he had stepped out of another era, and he said almost nothing.  He drove up to the farm where my son was playing in the yard with his bicycle and he stopped at which point I exited the car thanking him repeatedly, certain that I would never see him again….  

My son said, “Mom, do you know that man.” And I said “Nick it really doesn’t matter.  He saved my life.”