Friends of ours moved to a nice little cabin just outside of Glacier National Park. It was ideal. There was a pond out front where they watched Moose graze and trails through Flathead National Forest just outside their door. Their three kids were picked up by the school bus at the foot of the hill and Laura could jog blissfully around the "neighborhood" exercising with the wonders of nature all around her. Being avid outdoorsmen they were very happy. The little neighborhood only had one other full time resident. One day he called Laura to tell her that Star was headed her way. "Star? Who's Star?" Oh, that's our resident grizzly. "YOU NAME YOUR BEARS?" Well Star did pay a visit to the new neighbors. She checked the front porch and the trash cans and even climbed the stairs to the back deck to look for any goodies in the BBQ grill. She left nice, big grizzly bear paw prints in the snow. Well, even nature lovers become a little concerned with a grizz living next door so changes were made. One of the parents walked the kids to the bus stop in the morning and greeted them again in the afternoon. Laura strapped bear bells on her ankle and continued her runs singing loudly all the way "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to run with a grizzly bear today".
They still live there. They still hike and cross country ski through the forests. They still kayak and raft down the rivers. The boys are grown now and everyone in the family has their own bear spray that clips to their pack straps every time they head out into nature AND they have spares that they issue to guests before each hike. So if you are in grizzly country, get your bear spray and your bear bells and sing along with nature.
