After a week in Alaska, and 10 days recovering from Covid, I am finally able to come downstairs and start to look at my Bear photos again.
I wanted to share this photo, and the story of this moment. On our last full day we were gifted with the antics of 2 cubs and their watchful mom, as the sun sank low in the sky. Mom had been running back and forth trying to catch salmon in the river, until other bears wandered over, attracted by her splashing. Then she spent a lot of time and energy chasing the other bears away from her cubs. She would charge at the other bears, sending up a spray of droplets from the river, and her cubs would be galloping right behind her as if they were part of the chase. “Go Mom, go!”
Finally they were all tired out, and they sat on a little sandy island in the middle of the river. The cubs were gazing out into the distance at the big wide world…and Mum was looking over her shoulder making sure there were no other dangers lurking. Isn’t that the way of all moms? Our young cubs are blissfully aware of all the things in the world that are scary or unpleasant, and Mom places herself as a boundary or in this case, a guardian.
They sat quietly as the sun hovered over the horizon on a late summer long afternoon that was slipping into evening. We sat on a viewing platform, quietly, watching them view their domain. All was still, all was right with the world, in those precious peaceful moments. I hope by sharing this image and this story with you, that you can also take the magic of this moment, and carry it in your heart.
She never did catch a fish, but a few minutes after I took this photo, they ambled into the golden meadow and she lay down to nurse her cubs. All we could see were her paws stretching and waving with the ripples of glowing light that spread across the whispering waves of sedge grasslands. The breeze carried the cubs’ satisfied grunts to our ears as they snuggled in to nurse, and we knew it was just one voice in the great symphony of the Alaskan wilderness.
May we always protect and cherish these irreplaceable wild lands.
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Luana and Paul
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Travel/Quilt Calendar:
Sept 14, 5:30 pm – “Art & Activism” lecture at CU Boulder.
(Contact us for a link to free tickets.)
Sept 28-30 – AQSG Seminar – Louisville, KY
Oct 27 – Nov 3 – Quilt Market/Festival – Houston TX
