Bear break!

I love living in the country! Ever since we moved to the Shenandoah Valley we've had a continuous source of entertainment in our own yard. Deer wander through our field and nibble off the apple trees next to the house. A doe and her two small spotted fawns are regular visitors. We have an on-going contest with the resident groundhog to see who will get the most tomatoes from the garden. If we could train him to eat whole tomatoes instead of taking bites out of a dozen, we'd be satisfied. The hummingbirds engage in a continuous argument at the feeder over who will eat first. When we trade the hummingbird feeders for birdseed in a few weeks we'll have a wide variety of feathery friends coming to the window. The wildlife can even engage the grandchildren more than a video or computer game!

But yesterday was a real first for us. Our next door neighbor called at lunchtime to say there was a bear in a tree down the street. We hopped in the car along with three visiting grandkids and, sure enough, a few blocks from the town's "business district" was a little bear up a tree right in front of a house, only about fifty feet from the its front door. According to our neighbor a full-grown bear was hit by a car and killed last week and she guessed this might have been her cub. The little one was drawing a crowd and the poor thing looked frightened. Our four-year-old grandson, Ryan, immediately claimed the critter calling him "my bear."

A few minutes after we arrived the police came and shooed everyone off. We asked for St. Francis' intercession on the way home to lead the little beast to safety. Later my husband passed by on the way to an appointment and saw three police cars with officers standing around the tree scratching their heads about the situation. What does one do with an underage bear trespassing in a tree?

Well they must have figured it out because when my husband returned a few hours later the police and the bear were gone. We hope the little one got taken back up into the mountains. He was an adolescent, old enough to be on his own, but he certainly needs to be in a less tense environment.

Which brings me to a good point for Christians. When Jesus told his followers to "flee the city" he probably didn't have our bear in mind - but living in the country is surely a friendlier environment for the human species. If you want proof, talk to my grandchildren.