Stamina Challenge Day 3: How not to rev up your morning walk

Welcome to Day 3 of the 7 Day Stamina Challenge!

For any new readers let me bring you up to speed: We are arising a half hour earlier than our normal time (that’s 4am for me!), writing in our journal, and today, we are enjoying God’s countryside in all its morning glory for a brisk 20 minute walk before breakfast.

Nope. Not today.

You heard me. That’s a big N-O.

I am a fair weather walker and we are experiencing a steady stream of rain. There is another reason as well, which I will detail for you below.

Instead, I got together with my Wii self, and we did some stretching, yoga, walking, and a great obstacle course in which I failed and laughed more than I succeeded. But I kept on moving forward anyway, because it’s what we all do.

Now onward to the other reason I am not walking outside this morning.

Remember how I have said I live out in God’s country, which we share with all of His creatures?

Remember a couple of years ago, in July, when I wrote that we had the whole family here (30-40 of us) for a reunion, including lots of kids, and we saw this guy out on the patio in the middle of the day?

Remember just last month I wrote about a nighttime walk in which I faced my fears, one of which was running into one of these guys again?

Well, apparently I forgot all of the above.

I mean, really, it was the middle of the day, for goodness sake. I had my cell phone in my back pocket, and my little point and shoot camera grasped firmly in my hand.

What could go wrong?

I had headed up my driveway around 11:00am for a short, revitalizing walk. I passed the stone steps to the main building and entered the wider, main parking area.

I heard sounds up ahead, in the woods just to the left of the main part of the driveway.

I looked up, and what to my wondering eyes should appear was a large bear cub attempting to climb through the rail fencing.

I’m not sure, but I think I screamed. Or hollered. Because that bear’s head whipped right around, and he looked right at me.

The little voice in my head was yelling at me calmly saying, “Well, done, Kim. If your intent was to draw attention to yourself, you did.  Now what?”

Well, I did what came naturally.

I stopped, whipped open my camera, and took some pictures.

Just kidding.

I’ll bet those of you who personally know me figured that’s what I did.

Uh huh. Not this time.

I. RAN. FAST. To the door furthest away, because it was the only one unlocked.

Praying fervently the whole time. “God, I know we just spoke a couple of hours ago, but I REALLY REALLY need your help right this second. Just help me be faster than the bear.”

Meanwhile, the little voice in my head returned for an encore, “What are you doing, you idiot?!? Did you really want to become his next meal and the lead story on the 6:00 News? It will read: Local woman knows better, but acts stupid anyway, gets her due by becoming brunch.”

I made it to my porch, taking two steps at a time, and threw open my door, listening for the sound of thudding paws behind me.

Fortunately, all I heard was him crashing away, back into the woods.

Whew.

I came back inside, deciding that I had had enough revitalizing for now.

I sat back down at my computer to share my encounter, only to see the cub reappear.

I grabbed my camera, and went to a window with a clearer view, where I shot the images below.

If you can’t tell by the photo, that is a dumpster which he is ambling towards. Although maybe he knew I was just inside this building . . . I’ve got to say he looks a whole lot bigger and scarier here on all fours than he did when all I could see was his cute little teddy bear face poking through the fence . . .

Ahh, and here he is investigating how he can access whatever is creating those yummy smells. Notice the chain on the corner to the right. Yes, our dumpster has tangled with the bears before and lost, so we have to chain the lids down.

His face looks more like a cub to me here, although his claws are pretty big. I know what he’s thinking: “If I only could have caught that tasty looking gal in the driveway, I wouldn’t have to fool around with this stupid thing.”

He tried both sides, only to find both were locked down tight. He dropped down to the ground, and wandered away.

So, what is the takeaway here today?

Well, there’s probably all kinds of great ways to rev up your walks. Doing a hundred yard dash away from a bear should definitely not be on that list.

And if you’re going to head out for a brisk morning stroll, for goodness sake don’t wear “Bear Essentials” perfume. (Like this? Click here to tweet!)

Sorry. Just couldn’t leave that pun alone . . .

Finally, just a little information for my dear city readers. We have black bears here in NH, and no, they don’t eat people. However, if you get between a mom and her cub, well, let’s just say that the end result might not be pretty. NH Fish and Game has a page of frequently asked bear questions, and they back me up on my hollering and running away give sound advice on what to do if you encounter a bear.

Photo credit

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