I Met a Man · 4 August 2018
(For some reason, I had the notion to write my bear story from the bear’s perspective.)
I was walking along minding my own business when I met a man. I was just doing my own thing like usual. I was taking a mid-afternoon walk to my favorite napping spot (in Olympic National Park near Sol Duc Hot Springs) when I came to the people path. Now, mama did not raise no fool. She always said, “Make sure to look both ways when crossing people paths. You never know if there might be a scary person out there. And you know you are always supposed to stay away from people.” Well, I still listen to my mama’s advice. So I looked both ways at the people path.
Imagine my surprise when I looked to my right and saw a people. Sure, I have seen people far away. They even have cameras with long lenses pointed at me from time to time. But I have never seen one so close. I don’t even know why I didn’t smell him right away. But there he was. Just standing there with his mouth open not moving a muscle. With a camera down around his belly button, but in his hands.
Well, I decided that mama was right, even if the guy looked harmless. Or maybe even less than harmless. I decided I would skedaddle. I kept him in sight as I stood and turned around. Then, I just walked away. Okay. I walked a bit faster than normal. I mean, he was only fifty or sixty feet away from me. (When I tell mama, he might be a little closer and a little bigger and scarier.) I was almost to the trees when he pulled up his camera. I think he might have gotten a shot off, but I don’t know. All I know is that I was not going to go parallel to the people path so I went back toward the river. Straight away from the man and the people path.
I know I need to cross the people path from time to time, but I will surely look around even before I get there. Seeing that man on the people path so close to me was not a fun experience. After all, I am not much of a picture person, posing or anything like that. I just like to mind my own business and eat and sleep and walk around doing bear stuff. No need for people watching. People are scary. And I do not need to see any more people when I am on my afternoon walk minding my own business.
© 2018 Michael T. Miyoshi
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