Email sent to Alex this morning.

Hey Alex,

Thanks for stopping by my site. You have no idea how much it means to me that you check out and notice all the work I’ve done on getting the photos photoshopped, re-sized and uploaded. Working on Smugmug (cleaning up the organization) and communicating with Erik over details of the new site, has occupied a lot of my time.

I just got out of bed. I was laying in bed, like I do when I first wake, propped up on my elbow, looking out the window at the scenery. (I do this at home too) From the bedroom window I can see much of the porch railing near the tree and the bird feeder where the birds are always fed. This actual bird feeder on the deck outside isn’t visible from the bedroom but much of the railing, porch and pine tree is.

So I’m staring out the window, through morning unfocused, tear crude filled eyes, when I see a blur of movement that is large and obviously not birds. I lift myself up a little higher on my elbow and blink trying to clear my eyes. The thing I’m trying to focus on is brown. It’s moving away out of my vision, moving down and behind the massive pine tree, out of site. I can’t see the brown anymore. I yell to Ray, who is in the main room in the cabin, “BEAR, BEAR, BEAR”!!!! I jump up out of bed and run into the room where Ray is seated 8 feet away from the bird feeder just outside the floor to ceiling window. “Did you see the bear?”

I no longer can see anything climbing down the porch railing or the pine tree. It’s raining outside. There is sap that has dropped from the pine tree all over the wood slat porch flooring (I hate getting sticky sap on the bottom of my feet or soxs), but I don’t care. I pick up my camera and charge out the sliding glass door into the rain….in my pjs. Photo op. Where is the bear. I do not have my glasses on. I’m moving too fast; I’m way too excited. I can’t see the controls on my small camera. I’m frustrated. I spot the bear down the hillside maybe 20 feet away, his back to me (I think – no glasses) and he’s moving away.

Oh no, I hope I’m on a good enough camera setting to get a shot of the bear. Oh well, I shoot away hoping the dial is set to something that will capture the bear. After one shot, the bear starts walking faster, seemingly aware of my presence I think, away down towards lake’s edge. For a moment I think about getting a video of the bear, but I can’t see the dial settings and now the bear is too far out of sight. What a rush. I walk back through the sliding door ,into the warm living area, and Ray and I excitedly share our “Did you sees……?”

My glasses are on, I’ve taken my once a month Boniva pill to promote good bone density, and I am seated looking at the email I received from last night. I’m hyped up, have the coffee Ray made me, but can’t drink it because I’m not supposed to drink or eat anything for an hour after I take the Boniva pill. What am I supposed to do with all this adrenaline? Write my morning down in this email to you Alex, that’s what I’ll do with the adrenaline rush.

We had been told when we arrived and checked in here at Wood’s Lodge that the bear has visited our cabin and climbed up on our porch over 28 times. We’ve been waiting and hoping to catch a “safe” glimpse of the bear and now we have. We love it.

Hey bear. Hey bear.

Thanks for listening to the reporting of a great start to our day.

Love,

Linda

Here is the bear. The photos were really dark, almost black, so I had to photoshop them a lot.