Another of our big hairy black neighbors padded by the other day. S/he was following the mama bear and one or two other cubs (one may have run by before I noticed).
Our local bobcat slipped by the same week, with a squirrel in its sharp teeth.
Living in the midst of Wildness here in the mountains is a continual lesson in humility. We share the home: Nature.
Can our species truly learn that lesson?
Friendly Freethinker 
You have an amazing view of the wild happenings from the comfort of your recliner 😂.
Well Chris. we used to live quite compatibly with nature and many of our indigenous groups still do. We have much to learn from them but unfortunately we prefer cell phones and concrete patios to wild calls and singing birds outside our man-made homes. We forgot that trees will die if we start fires, streams will dry up if we dam our rivers, and long formed chemical compounds that will burn need to be controlled judiciously.
We have attacked and misused carbon maliciously since the industrial revolution just 250 years long, carbon the element of life needs to be preserved and worshipped. I only call the natural world sacred. Unfortunately to most humans “nature” means what we humans do instinctively and not the great context in which we live. We can not afford to ignore it and many like yourself, Audubon Society, Sierra Club of my youth, and my fly fishing buddies who release all fish unharmed and use barbless hooks. I always pat my fish on the belly and give them a lip to lip kiss. This I learned from my indigenous friends.
I don’t know if you watched on PBS the sad but also great two part series on the American Buffalo by Ken Burns and staff but it brought tears to my eyes (not ears) to see how we almost made this iconic American mammal go extinct as a way of enforcing our horrible colonialism on our indigenous brothers and sisters and using their hides irreverently. The story needed to be told although I studied it in my American History of the West class 60 years ago. Our prof. was very enlightened and started the process of me trying to read and understand how Manifest Destiny (God decreed this is our land not yours) destroyed much of the West and certainly the American Indian tribes and many animals to feed the pioneers. It led to 5 wars with other colonial countries and even claiming the Philippines as our right in Asia. Japan hated us as we were a threat to their imperialistic aims. WWII started in Manila in 1898. It was reckless, cruel and sanctified by their god, not mine. This is also some of the religious narrative behind the current wars in the Ukraine and Israel. It all starts with a decree from god that is nationalistic and self-serving. e.g Bush calling all of his enemies “the axis of evil”. God is obviously on our side even if we kill, rape, pillage and destroy a people. Can’t believe in this god.
Keep up the terrific work and watch those wonderful creatures, furry, protruding teeth and claws all around with pleasure and admiration. They have no cell phones of patios and live fully. Cheers,
WOW! Who is this guy? I like him😃
I am a Humanist Chaplain and worship the cosmos of the natural universe. who is Campyrob?
An old friend from high school who shares some of my story of emerging from narrow beliefs.
A “friendly freethinker” chaplain doing good work in B.C.