X Marks the Spot

Across the unbroken expanse of prairie, little bear sees something odd in the distance... it looks like a cable fence of sorts. Eh, what the heck is that doing out here? It looks almost like a grave plot or something... Getting closer, little bear finds... a fence...

Rusty white metal poles with a rusty cable connecting them, all in the form of a square. And then little bear sees a sign...

Eh? What the heck is this? Is it a secret military facility? But there are crocuses blooming here as well and no signs say "keep out"... so little bear does some more investigating. He finds a rock with a big old rusty spike in it...

Clearly this is not "The Last Spike" on any railroad but... what is it? Little bear does some more investigating and discovers that the fence posts are actually information posts as well...

Ah... it's a topographical survey marker... Except it doesn't have a number. Standing on the spike in the stone, little bear can be 100% sure of where he is! If he knew what the number was, he could even figure out his latitude and longitude to a very exact degree! It's amazing the things little bear finds....

Real Flatland

Little bear calls this place flatland... and it is... but he hasn't really seen much of it. But... today, little bear got out onto some real flatland...

There were no trees (well, hardly any)... and there was nothing to see in any direction other than grasses and sky... oh and some mountains, far, far in the distance. So does that count as "real flatland"... good question. Little bear decides he just won't look in that direction. In fact, he cant' quite get over the enormous expanse of blue sky...

It's very calm and peaceful out there... just the sighing of the wind in the grasses... and little bear could just sit here for a while...

Now, he's heard that it is also tick season... and because of that... he tries to stay out of the long grass and just sit on a rock... he's a cautious bear! He doesn't need a tick getting into his fur and latching onto him! The other thing little bear is noticing is that it is very bright out... and that sunglasses aren't really built for little bears...

His eyes are a little too close together for most normal sunglasses... poor little bear... he's just going to have to squint a bit!

Spring is also wet...

Today little bear went for a walk down by his favourite river. He wanted to see how it had changed during his absence. Well... first problem was to get down to the river. Let's just say that the trail was a bit mucky! Clay and water and more clay and water.

Eventually... after tip-toeing through the bushes, little bear made it to the river's edge... well, almost... because he came across a big crack in the ground that had him stymied...

What the heck is this? The grass roots are pulled across the crack and little bear could see a bunch of clay and water down in the crack as well. What was going on here?

Ah... the crack was just one of a series of cracks... little bear was standing on the edge of a teeny-tiny landslide along the river bank. High water had obviously undercut the bank at some point and then... plop, it all went into the river... Maybe little bear should back away from the edge of the river!! He's going to go and find a different spot to sit...

 This is much better... no failing riverbank.. just some grasses and some bushes, and the peaceful flow of the water. Little bear is going to just sit and enjoy it for a bit. He's still recovering from his whirlwind tour of the west and he needs some downtime...

Even Flatland has Flowers!

Little bear has had a lot of winter... and he's had a taste of spring (but in a different climate). Now... he is getting a taste of spring in flatland... and let's just say... he's pleasantly surprised.

The grass is definitely getting long and green, and little bear is having trouble picturing what it will look like in a few weeks... He might not be able to see over the top of it anymore if it keeps growing at this rate! Mind you, the trees are still looking a little bare... but there are definite shimmers of green on some branches.

And of course... he is always on the hunt now for flowers. Having seen so many pretty colours out west in the mountains, he is hoping that maybe flatland has flowers too. All of a sudden he spies a wonderful splash of orange... flowers!!

Nope, not quite... a splash of lichens on a tree but... they are colourful to be sure... But little bear keeps his eyes open and then off in the distance, amongst all of the grasses, he finds them... prairie crocuses...

They are a very fetching shade of purple (which goes well with his green jacket)... and they are very pretty! Little bear learns that they aren't actually crocuses (which belong to the lily family)... but are actually anemones (from the buttercup family). He's not too interested in the taxonomy of flowers... all he's really interested in is the beautiful colours!

In fact, this seems like a perfect spot to just lie down in the old grass and soak up the sunshine!

Home Again!

Little bear is home again! Ahhh... and much to his surprise, the snow is gone, the birds are out and small sprigs of greenery are popping up everywhere! Spring has come here as well... it's a bit delayed mind you. But little bear is now getting a second dose of it, and he couldn't be happier! Except... he went out for a walk and couldn't quite believe his little eyes...

The park grass was totally (and I mean totally!) covered in little brown poops. Oh my goodness... what happened here? Little bear is a bit stunned and doesn't know where to begin... should he start picking them up?? There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them...

But upon closer inspection, little bear notices a few things... (1) the ends of the little brown thingies have grass on them and (2) there are hundreds, maybe thousands of holes across the lawn. These aren't poops... these are little grass plugs!

Whew... little bear learns that this is done to aerate the grass roots to promote growth. Whew... no major poop invasion after all!

A Last Romp through the Greenery

Today's the day... little bear is headed home and none too pleased about that. Admittedly, he does miss his comfy chair but... he's gotten used to the greenery... it's everywhere now!

Little bear is wondering what will happen as the greenery gets bigger and bigger... everything will be green... and he will be perfectly camouflaged! Oooh... he could become a Jungle Bear... sneaking up on unsuspecting folks and scaring the heck out of them!

All he will have to do is be very still (which he does very well), blend into the scenery and then pounce... When told that the law takes a very dim view of people or bears lurking in bushes... little bear decided that maybe lurking in the bushes was not for him. He's a smart little bear!

Maybe all little bear really needs to do is just to enjoy the greenery and soak up the spring sunshine... it is so warm and one could think that he's getting a tad warm in his winter boots, winter pants, down jacket and fur hat but... little bear says he's actually just fine. Very tired... but just fine. It's been a whirlwind trip for little bear... and he's not looking forward to the long car-ride home... but then... he doesn't have to drive either!

A Day at the Beach

Little bear only has a precious amount of time remaining here in the land of spring. Soon he will head back home and he's not too happy about that... He's gotten used to greenery and flowers and flowing water. Despite being told that spring does come to flatland as well... little bear isn't too sure about that yet!

Today little bear wanted to head back to the lake... just to enjoy the warmth of the sand on his little feet... to sit and stare out at the water... to be a contemplative little bear.

The water is so still and calm and little bear could sit here for ages... A bit farther down the beach, he finds an old dock...

And little bear can almost see the appeal of jumping into the waters to go for a swim. He can see the bottom here... and although the water is still very cold... he's thinking that maybe water isn't such a bad thing (although he still has that idea that he might shrink if he falls in the water)...

And of course no visit to the beach would be complete without finding something carved into a piece of driftwood. Little bear wonders who "J" and "K" are... He wonders if he'll ever find true love as well... he hasn't met too many adventurous little bears during his travels... maybe he's the only one?

They say that no man is an island... but right now, little bear feels a bit isolated! He's more than a third of the way through his year of adventure and... so far he hasn't found anyone to share that with... But who knows what the future might hold...