"Want to take a walk with me to the mailbox?" my husband asked.
Evening was just around the corner and since we both spent the better part of the day inside, we were overdue for a bit of outdoor exercise.
"Sure," I said. "Just give me a minute to get ready and I'll join you."
I slipped into shoes, stuck the phone in my pocket and grabbed the camera. Even for a short walk, I make a point of taking a camera along just in case. I've been out too many times without one and missed some exciting shots.
Our mailbox is about a half-mile away. To get there, we meandered down our dirt driveway and the unpaved road, flanked by houses on one side and a 120-acre wood on the other.
After stopping to chat with a neighbor, we continued along. Mosquitoes were coming out and I was eager to get the mail, return home and jump into the lake before the bugs got the best of me. But a few steps farther along, all thoughts of biting insects vanished when I caught sight of something I had never seen before.
"Ralph! " I commanded, pointing ahead. "Stop! There's a bear right there!"
No sooner had the words escaped my lips than a black hunk of a creature emerged from beneath a broad oak tree. Instantly, the animal noticed us and shifted gears. When I first saw him, he was nosing something on the ground but seconds later he was lumbering across the road toward the safety of the woods. Midway, he stopped to size up the two humans who had interrupted his foraging.
While all this was happening — less than a minute — I was prying the camera from my pocket and directing it toward the bear. Click. One shot was all I got before the bear disappeared into the woods.
"Should we follow him?" Ralph asked eagerly.
I shook my head. "There's no way we'd be able to find him. He's too fast, the woods too dense. It's too late to try."
We continued to the mailbox on a cloud of excitement.
"I can't believe we saw a bear!" I repeated about a dozen times. "I'm so glad you were with me. I don't think anyone would have believed me if I'd been alone."
Equally awed, Ralph said, "It looked like a big dog. I'm amazed you saw it."
"Me too," I admitted. "I still can't believe, after 21 years living here, we actually saw a bear! That's so incredible! I wonder when we'll see it again."
My elation didn't abate. I uploaded the picture I took soon after we got home and left an excited message on my daughter's voice mail. My natural high remained throughout the night and following day. It wasn't until about 24 hours after spotting the bear that my euphoria took a nosedive, settling into sorrowful despair.
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