Bearly hanging in
Oct. 20th, 2023 07:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jenni_blogIt's been a trying couple of months for a variety of reasons. Dealing with a loved one suffering from dementia has its ups and downs (yes, there are ups as long as one retains one's sense of humour), but I won't dwell on the downs. That doesn't do anyone any good.
For the most part, hubby is still very active and loves to go for his long walks, especially along the nearby trail, where there is a lovely coffee shop attached to a brewery at the end of it. It's nice to stop there for a coffee and pastry before heading homewards.
Lately though, as we've discovered, it is bear season. Our nearby creek is usually full of salmon but this year because of the prolonged drought in the later part of summer, it is all but dry and contains no fish at all.
However, that has not stopped a huge black bear from visiting several times and availing him/herself of all the fruit along the pathway. In fact, my next-door neighbour ran into him a week ago. She said he was behind a bush when she saw his massive head, his beady eyes staring at her. She turned around and walked swiftly back the way she had come.
Hubby has been insisting on trail walking, so it's been a bit difficult for me to convince him to take walks around the neighborhood instead, but so far I've managed.
The last time we walked on the trail we came across an elderly man who was carrying some potted plants in a large garbage bag. We stopped to chat and he told us he was originally from Saskatchewan, but he and his wife had recently moved to Kelowna. He said she was now in a nursing home here, but this year he had lost both his sister and his brother, at separate times. One in the spring and the other in summer. He bought two trees to plant on the trail in their memories.
Once he planted them, a little balsam fir and another deciduous one (I don't know what it is), I took photos and told him I'd keep an eye on them every time I passed by. I was quite touched by his story.
He said he hoped he wasn't breaking the law by planting the two trees, but I said it's most likely that he'd be breaking it by digging out trees, not planting a couple more.
https://albums.memento.com/get81286/p/653291289222d7d2ad598ddb
https://albums.memento.com/get81286/p/653291283e1c4b32efe4871b
For the most part, hubby is still very active and loves to go for his long walks, especially along the nearby trail, where there is a lovely coffee shop attached to a brewery at the end of it. It's nice to stop there for a coffee and pastry before heading homewards.
Lately though, as we've discovered, it is bear season. Our nearby creek is usually full of salmon but this year because of the prolonged drought in the later part of summer, it is all but dry and contains no fish at all.
However, that has not stopped a huge black bear from visiting several times and availing him/herself of all the fruit along the pathway. In fact, my next-door neighbour ran into him a week ago. She said he was behind a bush when she saw his massive head, his beady eyes staring at her. She turned around and walked swiftly back the way she had come.
Hubby has been insisting on trail walking, so it's been a bit difficult for me to convince him to take walks around the neighborhood instead, but so far I've managed.
The last time we walked on the trail we came across an elderly man who was carrying some potted plants in a large garbage bag. We stopped to chat and he told us he was originally from Saskatchewan, but he and his wife had recently moved to Kelowna. He said she was now in a nursing home here, but this year he had lost both his sister and his brother, at separate times. One in the spring and the other in summer. He bought two trees to plant on the trail in their memories.
Once he planted them, a little balsam fir and another deciduous one (I don't know what it is), I took photos and told him I'd keep an eye on them every time I passed by. I was quite touched by his story.
He said he hoped he wasn't breaking the law by planting the two trees, but I said it's most likely that he'd be breaking it by digging out trees, not planting a couple more.
https://albums.memento.com/get81286/p/653291289222d7d2ad598ddb
https://albums.memento.com/get81286/p/653291283e1c4b32efe4871b
no subject
Date: 2023-10-20 04:01 pm (UTC)Yipes, what an experience. I hope that somehow the bears can find enough fruit and fish to get them through the winter.
*very tight and encouraging hugs*
no subject
Date: 2023-10-23 04:23 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2023-12-04 08:35 pm (UTC)