Huff and Puff

Little bear discovered the most beautiful flower today. It is so bright and beautiful... and a delightful shade of yellow. He immediately wanted to pick a bouquet to bring home...

But he learned that they don't do well once they've been picked... and can actually turn little bear paws brown with the milk from their stems. Poor little bear... but then he discovered what happens as these flowers age.

They get all old and shriveled and then... something wondrous happens... they become beautiful white and silver puffballs.

Aren't they beautiful? Little bear was mesmerized by these puffballs... and looked at them from every angle...

He could see that some of the puffballs had lost their little puffs... and he learned that if he blew really hard, the whole puff ball would just disintegrate and float away. So little bear huffed and puffed with all his might... but only managed to tip himself over backwards!

Little bear apparently doesn't have a lot of huff-n-puff capability... or maybe these puff balls weren't ready yet. Maybe little bear will start a garden back home... and these will be one of his first plantings!

Time for a break

Little bear has had so many adventures in the past few days... he's needing a break. It's time to sit down in his comfy chair... pull out a book and read some stories... maybe about the Berenstein Bears... or Big Ben... or... well, there are just so many great bear stories out there!

Although... little bear has recently heard about "honey" from his pals Jerry and Ben... and he's wondering what this stuff is... what is "honey"? Hmmm... maybe he needs to read Winnie-the-Pooh first...

Pen Pals!

Ooohhh boy... little bear has had an amazing adventure! He is so excited, he can hardly sit still. A few days ago... he was on another plane (headed west this time) and had a layover in a big airport. There are never any bears traveling through the airports it seems... and little bear was feeling a tad lonely...

So... he decided to do some searching on the internet and social networking sites... there might be some other bears out there. Maybe?

He did find some little bears on Facebook... but they seemed to be fairly prissy bears, just hanging around coffee shops. Not an adventurous bear to be seen! And then, he came across a blog site that was old and out of date... with little bears hanging off of Christmas trees... which didn't look very adventurous either. But... but... there was a link for "Jerry and Ben (Tales of 2 Bears)"... Little bear clicked that link and... fell over backwards in astonishment!

Oh my goodness!! "The Many Adventures of Jerry and Ben"... little bear couldn't quite contain himself. He wanted to be friends right away... but had to get mama to type for him because he was all thumbs. And a day later... there was a response to one of little bear's adventures... and then little bear posted something on their blog...

Oooh... little bear has pen pals... very well-dressed pen pals too... Little bear now wants to know why he has to wear a winter hat and boots and pants and jacket all the time (Canada gets snow even in July and August). More importantly though... little bear now wonders why Gerry and Ben have names and he doesn't... oh dear!

Little bear won't forget

Today was a very early morning for little bear! He was off for another bike ride and the sun was barely over the horizon. But that's OK... 5:30 am doesn't feel so early when it's light out.

On his way to his favourite hot chocolate shop, little bear saw something strange and wanted to stop and have a look. There were these big green machines and something grey that looked very weird!

What could these things be? What were they used for? Why were they out here? Little bear had a flood of questions and couldn't quite believe the answers. These things were used for "war" and "peace-keeping"?? What was "war"? ... Oooh... explain that one to a little bear...

Little bear isn't sure that he likes the sound of "war". It sounds like lots of people get hurt and don't come home to their loved ones. He can't imagine ever going off to war! Little bear would like to go into the museum here and learn some more... but it isn't open at 6 am... so that will have to be another adventure.

Little bear hopes that there will be peace in the world... but he also understands (a little bit) why there might be war. He's just glad he doesn't live in a war zone!

Another type of dam...

Walking is certainly one way to adventure through the world... but it's a pretty slow way... especially for a little bear with short little legs. Today, little bear tried his hand at riding a bike... as a passenger. With a bit of squirming and snuggling, he was tucked in all of the brake and gear cables up front and had an awesome view of the world...

And.... if required... he could always be the headlamp operator (just to make him feel useful). So off he went... and one of the first adventures was an old adventure. Little bear wanted to see if the deer leg from a previous adventure was still hanging around.

The short answer is... yes... it's still hanging around. Poor little bear, it still turns his stomach! This was a very quick adventure and little bear was back in the handlebars and headed along the trail, only to be stopped again...

The trail was flooded! My goodness.... and while little bear toyed briefly with the idea of yelling "tally-ho... full-steam ahead"... he thought that he might get a tad wet (and shrink)... or a tad dirty... What to do? Looking to the right, little bear spied a secondary trail that seemed to be less wet and less muddy...

And might provide a detour around the flooded spot. So off he went... and quickly realized why the trail was flooded. There was a dam upstream of that spot! And not just any dam... not a concrete dam... a dam made of logs and twigs and mud. It was a beaver dam!

Now it all makes sense... actually many things make sense. Little bear now understands who/what had been gnawing down trees all winter... and he knows what they do with those logs and trees! Little bear stood very still in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the mysterious beaver...

But alas... the beavers were not around this morning... although... little bear did hear lots of frogs... and then... there was a head cutting the water! "oooohhh... beaver!" cried little bear... nope, sorry... it's not a beaver. Beaver's have flat tales and this thing had a long skinny tale... more of a muskrat than a beaver!

Still, little bear was pretty excited... and all he could chatter about on the bike ride home was beavers and muskrats and beaver dams... Truly a great adventure for a little bear.

Lilliputian Bear?

Little bear likes to read books (small books, mind you)... and he has heard about Gulliver's Travels. Now there's a guy who had ADVENTURES! But little bear never really thought that anything like that could happen to him. Nope... little bear thought Gulliver's Travels and the land of Lilliput was just a figment of someone's imagination. So today, he was sauntering along, minding his own business, as only a little bear can do...

But... unbeknownst to little bear, lurking around the corner, were a band of Lilliputian Cowboys... out to hunt down a towering bear. You would think they would recognize that little bear is... well... little... but it's all relative...

And these cowboys came armed for bear... in a manner of speaking. They didn't have any firearms per se... having lost them over the years... but they did have a spool of black thread... er... rope... and they knew what they needed to do...

With a wild "yahoo!"... the cowboys rounded the corner and completely startled little bear who could barely (bearly?) grasp what was happening to him. They circled around him with their thread... er.... rope and...

all little bear could do was stand there, slightly aghast and before you knew it... little bear lost his balance and.... boom... he was whipped onto his bum....

It didn't take the cowboys long before they had him in a true pickle... tied down to the carpet and little bear couldn't move a muscle...

The cowboys whooped and hollered... and even sat on top of little bear and gloated a bit... They had caught a giant of a bear... or so they thought! They were even talking about entering their capture into the Guinness Book of World Records...

But then after an eyeball to eyeball conversation... they learned that little bear was actually quite a, well... little bear... and that they weren't going to win any records or awards (or firearms for that matter) by capturing him with a spool of thread... er... rope. Ah well... it was worth a shot. The cowboys took it in good stride and released little bear from his bondage.

Although it did take a while, because they had used quite a bit of thr... rope... to tie him down! But after it was all undone... they sat down for a group photograph, just to show there were no hurt feelings...

It was all just a big misunderstanding... and little bear is just glad that it was happily resolved... and that this adventure wasn't a "dangerous" adventure!

A budding VanGogh?

Little bear is a helpful little bear... he likes to help around the house... he likes to help in the garden. And today's project for the day is painting...

All of the supplies are here... the roller tray, the roller, the paintbrushes, the paint, the dropsheets... now it's just to get ready.

Little bear loves the look of the dropsheet (cute animals)... but isn't so sure about the paint roller. It looks a bit too unwieldy for little bear paws. But no fear, little bear... there are paintbrushes!

A wide array of paintbrushes... and little bear tries one on for size. He's not sure if this is going to work either! Some of these paintbrushes are taller than little bear!

But then... in the bottom of the container, little bear spies a paintbrush that might just be perfect for little bears...

Yep, that looks like a perfectly sized paintbrush for little bear... and now he's almost ready to get started... except what is he going to paint? With a paintbrush that small and fine, little bear might end up just painting the baseboards... which is a perfect height for him as well...

Very good little bear... now there is only one thing left to do in preparation for painting... protecting that cute green jacket and those beautiful grey pants... it's called plastic sheeting...

Little bear isn't sure how this is going to protect him from paint... but be patient little bear.... all will become clear shortly...

There we go... little bear is ready for this painting adventure... more or less... Maybe painting isn't for little bear?

Little bear attends a concert... of sorts

While the prairie might be flat land... it isn't completely dry-land. There are little hollows where water collects... particularly in the spring. Today little bear came across just such a hollow... actually, he could hear it long before he could see it!

There was an embankment... a steep embankment... and little bear wondered if it was worth it to scramble down this embankment to explore the mysterious noises of the hollow... but...

he is a little bear... and adventure is his middle name! So after scrambling down the first drop, little bear stood at the top of the slope and gathered his courage in his paws and then... down he went!

Whew... look at that slope! He's lucky he didn't take a tumble as he could have ended up "splat" on the rocks! Mind you, he does come well-padded... So, following his ears... little bear crept up on the hollow... but as he got closer the noise stopped!

Grumble, grumble... little bear is going to have to learn how to stand very, very still! There are apparently hundreds of frogs in this hollow... and they aren't too impressed with a little bear creeping up on them... But, little bear can be very good at standing very still... Don't move, little bear... don't even breathe... and maybe, just maybe...

Ooohh... little bear has just shot his first full-feature film (a short one, mind you)... maybe he'll take up a career as an actor!

A Sacred Grove

Now the prairies aren't all blue sky and grass. There are small clumps of trees here and there, scrawny little trees, but trees nevertheless. Far in the distance, little bear could see a grove of trees, and decided to head over for a look-see.

The grove looked a very long away (especially for little bear's short legs), but it didn't take all that long, and little bear was almost there...

This particular grove of trees didn't look any different from other groves off in the distance. But when little bear finally got there... he could feel something... there was a calm and a peace here in this little grove... and little bear promptly lay down on the ground.

Somehow, he could sense that this was a sacred grove... a holy spot. Gazing up through the still-bare tree branches, little bear felt the contemplative peace of this place.

Finally, little bear took a seat on a rock and just sat there... he couldn't hear anything... he couldn't see anyone else... it was just him and this place... and a peaceful place too... little bear will be coming here more often!

When other people are going to church... little bear will come here and commune with the sacred.

A Chinese Mystery

OK... now little bear is really perplexed! He was walking through the dried grasses and then saw something out of the ordinary next to a small shrub.

Upon closer examination, little bear sees that this thing is round with a square hole in the middle. And it's made out of metal...

What the heck?? Little bear drags it off to the trail for a closer look and sees that on one side, it has some lines that look a lot like the Dharma logo from the TV show "Lost".... and also some oriental writing (Chinese maybe)...

On the flip side are four oriental characters...

Oooh... perplexing mystery!! After much perusal of the internet and searching... little bear thinks that it is a Feng shui coin... or Ba Gua coin... or an I Ching coin... and it probably symbolizes something... But he's not sure what... should he go out and buy a lottery ticket (prosperity)?? Should he start looking for a partner (family)?? Oooh... he's going to have to find somebody who knows more than he does!