Caramel

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        It was another sunny late-morning and John and I were on the mud flats watching the grizzly bears clamming.  There were a handful of bears out and about and we sat in the sand to watch them dig for their juicy morsels of food.  A beautiful, caramel colored grizzly bear started to walk our way.  She had long, shiny, silky hair and a long snout.  The golden highlights in her hair glinted in the sun’s rays.  Her face wasn’t as round, or heart shaped as many of the female grizzlies in Hallo, and she also didn’t fit the blond profile of the Hallo Bay females.  Nevertheless, I figured she must be a female since she didn't have a penis.

She glanced our way and started to head towards us on her way off of the flats.  When she got close to us she sat down, faced us and stared.  Having her look directly at us was unusual and such a joy!  She gazed at us with calm and interested eyes.  She was just relaxing and taking a break, and let the breeze blow across her face sending our scent her way.  Her long strands of hair blew in the wind, and she had a stoic appearance. 

Most often the grizzly bears go about their business even though we, or other bear viewers, might be in their midst – the bazaar interlopers in layers of oddly colored clothing, lurking in the background of their busy lives.  I most often feel like a log or a bird - an inconsequential part of the environment that gets tuned out by the bears whose attention is drawn to more important things.  We are not a threat nor are we a food – so we mostly get ignored. 

But Caramel treated us differently this morning.  She was interested in us.  Purposefully ambling in our direction, she had the distinct appearance of choosing, deliberately, to come and sit with us.  She sat down facing us and looked at us with curiosity in her liquid brown eyes.  We felt like she was one of the gang, sitting down to rest with us.  What a privilege!  She had an itchy leg, and began scratching her front leg using the claws of her back foot. 

Then it was time to move on to a thorough head scratching.  We could sympathize - we were also covered from head to toe with itchy bug bites. 

She then struck a comical pose that I was beginning to notice was quite common amongst grizzly bears.  She sat up on her butt leaning on one front paw, with her opposite front arm resting on her back knee.  She looked like a catalog model striking a casual pose. 

We felt fortune to have this beautiful bear sit and relax in the sun with us.  She hung out looking at us, and glancing around the flats, for about fifteen minutes.  She eventually got sleepy, her eyes becoming squinty in the bright sun.  She reclined down on her belly into the moist, cool sand, and stretched her back legs behind her in a full sprawl.  We sat with Caramel and watched her sleep, and felt so very privileged to be near this beautiful animal who felt comfortable enough in our presence to take a long and leisurely afternoon nap. 

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© 2008 Jessica Teel