Too Close for Comfort

I was the first to leave book club last Thursday night.  I walked out of the house and noticed a bag of trash lying open in the middle of the street.  I immediately thought about a possible bear, since in this area trash in the streets usually means a bear has been rummaging around, but since bears are supposed to be in hibernation in the winter and it was freezing cold outside I wasn’t too concerned.   I had my keys in my hand and as a precaution started pressing the unlock button repeatedly.  Thinking the little beeping sound would warn any wildlife lurking in the shadows that they were no longer alone and continued walking to my van parking down the street.  Then I heard the rummaging to my right and was stunned to see a huge bear in the driveway picking through a bag of trash.  I’ve seen bears before.  At the zoo, through the window of my car, etc…  never before just 15 feet away without any barriers or safety between us.  He was ridiculously huge, seriously just ginormous.  No doubt a healthy, adult black bear.  His back was turned toward me so we didn’t make eye contact.  I had to make a split second decision – continue the 50+ feet to my van or turn back and walk the equivalent distance back to the house.  

I chose the van and went against all we’d been taught and ran.  Yes, I’m sure if I’m ever on fire I won’t stop, drop and roll, but I will panic and run around screaming.  I heard him moving away from his dinner and back toward the street, but couldn’t bring myself to face him.   Once inside my van, I locked the door multiple times, then fumbled around for my phone so I could call the rest of the gals still inside the house and warn them not to come out.  By then I could see he was walking in the street back toward the house and away from me.  I was freaking out, shaking, just in total disbelief of what had just happened.  Had I seen him from the protection of my car or from inside the house I would have been excited and grabbed for my camera.  But it’s a whole different situation when there’s nothing between you and a wild animal that could kill you in seconds.  Not something I need to experience again – ever!  Once back at home I started thinking about all possible scenarios – playing a disturbing “what if” game.  What if my carpool hadn’t fallen through and I had walked out of the house with a friend – our talking certainly would have caught him off guard and there’s no way of knowing how he would have responded.  What if his back hadn’t been turned to me and we found ourselves face-to-face?  What if I had one of my kids with me?  What if Katie had been walking along side me?  How could I communicate what do to?  Could we get to the car safely? 

The next morning I wouldn’t let Jason walk to the bus stop alone (Carly leaves early on Friday mornings for choir).  Even before this if I was coming home late at night I always closed the garage door behind me before getting out of the van.  Hopefully I’m not too scarred.  The very next night Katie woke up crying after having a nightmare – yep, about bears.  Wish I could give her the ole’, “there’s no such thing as…”