Drinking the Ursine Kool-aid

A wise person (you know who you are!) suggested a tonic for the blue funk I've been in recently: 'Seek out good people doing good things'. And, in the spirit of this advice, I went out last night to see The Bears.

Living in New England, we all know there are bears. And deer, skunks, raccoons, moose and possoms. However, we rarely see them - unless you count roadkill as 'seeing them', which clearly I do not. Occasionally I am thrilled to catch a glimpse of a deer, often at this time of year with a fawn, grazing along the side of the interstate as I trundle wearily home in the evening. It's a sight that always gives me a boost!

But the bears, for the most part, continue to elude me. I have had two sightings in the ten years I've lived here: one in someone's front yard as I drove past and the other - amazingly - was a mother bear with two cubs, nonchalently crossing a road in a nearby town. Right in the middle of a school zone in broad daylight. It was a real heart-in-the-mouth moment as I watched the trio saunter along and the other onlookers getting out of their cars to follow. Yes, you did read that correctly .....getting out of their vehicles to follow a mama bear and her babies!!!!

Hmmm.....

Anyways, that aside, last night I too drank the ursine kool-aid (er-hum, well, you know what I mean!) and ventured out to our neighbouring town to see The Bears.

On foot.

Without the aid of a safety net.

Am I crazy?? No, not yet! The BearFest has begun in Easthampton and here are some of the little guys I met there....




Spirit Bear, outside the town hall




Me with my favourite - Global Bear




...and a bear behind!



My Beloved with his favourite - 'The Red Bearon'




This is a sweet little chap we discovered hiding out away from the 'main drag'. His name is Wire Hair Bear.





My Beloved again, this time with his new friend Aloha Bear.




And then - horror of horrors - we learned of the 'Ursine Alert: Chrome Bear Missing, Feared Kidnapped!'

The text reads as follows:

WANTED: The Safe Return of "Chrome Bear".

BEAR FEST BEAR MISSING!

Chrome Bear, a.k.a. "Bearly There Bear" was removed sometime during the night of June 13th. Torn from his bolts in front of Eastworks on Pleasant Street!

If you have any information, please call 413-527-8278.

We hope for our bear's safe return! No charges or penalties for his anonymous return, and no questions asked!

Reward: your karmic balance restored and the immense happiness of all the bear lovers of Easthampton!

Oh, and I couldn't resist including this:



A nice shot to end the evening.

OK, it's all very silly and it's really not especially vegan-related, but I wanted to post some pictures of the lighter side of life. Going back to the sage advice offered to me after my last post, here are some fun people doing some (animal-related) fun things. And I thought you too might like to share....

What do you like to do when you need an emotional pick-me-up????

Thanks for reading and Stay Vegan, Friends!