There's bears in my backyard!

In the spirit of fall, Brian and I took a walk down the road from the house and along the river to admire the colors of maple trees and watch the kokanee salmon spawning.

We dipped our hands into the water to touch one of the males that had pulled in closer to shore because he was nearing the end of his life. The bright fiery red of his scales juxtaposed the coolness I felt as he splashed against my skin before swimming away to another slow spot where he could surrender the materials of his body back to the river.

A little way down the bank we spotted some tracks. I suggested they were a mountain lion's, because I know one had been seen in the area before and I like the drama of a cougar living close by, but I ultimately agreed with Brian that they belonged to a bear.

A sow and her two cubs have been wondering around the valley recently, and I've become accustomed to seeing them on a regular basis. It’s been a treat to see them grow, play, climb trees, and find different sources of food as the season progresses. I can usually expect to run into them a couple of times a week, and yesterday Brian said that they passed through my backyard on the way to the river.

This could be the fault of watching Disney's Pocahontas too much when I was younger, but I used to dream of living in a beautiful place and sharing space with amazing creatures even though I couldn't predict if or how it would ever happen. Somehow, I have come to live with the company of a neurotic squirrel in the douglas-fir next to my porch, salmon spawning in the river down the road, deer nibbling on the flowers from the garden next-door, a mountain lion in my neighborhood, and bears in my backyard. All I need now is a pet raccoon, but I've got plenty of time for that.