Bear Spotting

We recently spent a few days in New Hampshire.  It’s very beautiful this time of year and was a good chance to spend more time in nature instead of behind a computer screen.  We had a great time, but we did get a little more nature than we bargained for – a bear!

It all started when we walked from our hotel to a nearby restaurant.  There was a police car parked to the side of the hotel parking lot.  We didn’t think much of it initially.  When we got to the restaurant, someone said that a bear had been spotted, and the police were there to try and scare it back into the woods.

Fast forward about an hour and we’re walking back from the restaurant.  We get about halfway there when my wife notices a large black spot against the trees.  For the first time in my life, I’m looking at a bear.  It was at the other end of a soccer field, so pretty far away, but it was unmistakably a bear.

Fortunately, it was a black bear, and they are usually docile.  I’m sure this one in particular was pretty accustomed to having people around, so they weren’t much of a threat.  But at the time that’s not how I saw it.  I grabbed our toddler and walked the rest of the way as quickly as I could.  Only back in the safety of our room could I reflect on what a cool – and not very dangerous – thing it was to see.  And our daughter, who loves her stuffed bears, still talks about it.