Big Bears

 What you are going to read below is about 900 words.  It adds a little detail to what Mom/Grandma told in 80 words. In my next lengthy, verbose, back-story telling post, I will add more detail about our small miracles we've been having that she mentions.  If you are good with the Clif notes, you don't need to read my posts.  

But before the post, Last week we were talking about a difference in us that is being exposed and highlighted as we serve here.  There is nothing wrong with either of us, but we are now operating at a very significant different pace.  Mom is extremely efficient and she does everything fast. She walks fast, sews fast, cooks fast, cleans up fast, reads fast, cleans house fast, writes fast all without losing even an ounce or tinge of quality.  I can keep up in short bursts, but i'm soon left behind.  I just drive fast and want more dessert on my plate fast.  So, she's the hare, I'm the tortoise, but she always wins the race because of her efficiency and endurance.  I'm mostly endurance and when i burst fast, i slow down even more. It was much easier at home when we each could maintain our own pace and schedule, but here where we are really operating everything the same, we are having to figure out how to manage.  And we are.  Once we recognized what was happening, then we could address it and make necessary adjustments.  One example is that now when we are out in the neighborhoods, I navigate, she drives.  It's amazing how well that has worked.  anyway, if you're still with me, here's some detail that i enjoy writing. 

We look forward to each day with what it will bring.  Friday night we are going to a ward Wild Game night where they will serve bear stew, goat chunks, mountain sheep, rock fish, and other stuff.  we want to try it all, so we will report back.   

 

November 19, 2023

On the 10th we did go to the wild game night and we ate all that was there to try, we think.  I don’t think there were goat chunks, but we could buy them at Costco. ☹ 

But we did eat Black Bear Stew, Moose Meat loaf with moose toe jam sauce, Salmon prepared in several ways, Caribou fajitas, rock fish, halibut, wild turkey, elk & moose sausage, and some things I’m not sure what they were.  They had labels for each one so we knew what was going into our mouths. All of it was made by members.  It was rather interesting cuisine. Nothing that turned my stomach, but nothing that talked to me like I couldn’t wait to go back for more or anxious to find a hunter to get more for me.  But, when in Alaska, do as the Alaskans do…mostly.  They didn’t have whale blubber or seal meat…that is left for the Native Alaskans I think. 

Towards the end of dinner, it was an open mike for anyone who wanted to share a fishing or hunting story from Alaska.  The last one was President Brian Smith, who is the 1^st Counselor in the mission presidency.  He came on a mission here 45 years ago and went home to Utah and found a wife who said she’d live with him in Alaska. Found one and moved back up here and raised a family of 8 children.  He has been hunting and fishing all over the state, even a guide sometimes.  So, he trains all of the new missionaries to Alaska how to be safe in the outdoors.  There are urban moose all over, bears in the many parks and preserves around.  Everyone is urged strongly to have bear spray and mosquito repellant with them when they are in areas on the outskirts of town or working on the benches.  He taught us that when dealing with bears the saying “if you see black, fight back; If you see brown, fall down, play dead; If you see white, kiss it goodnight”.  Polar bears never let their prey get away.  Brown bears here are grizzly bears.  He told a story of a friend who had a huge brown bear attack him.  They are very fast creatures and move very quickly, deceptively quick.  By the time this guy could pull his 9mm all he could see of the bear was his open mouth as he squeezed the trigger.  When he came to his senses, the bear was dead on top of him.  It was the best story of the night.

 Something very ironic happened this week involving President Smith.  He went fishing with a friend down to Kenai last week. We are not aware of all the details, but this is what we’ve been told.  As they were making their way down to the river, they saw a brown bear a way off eating berries and foraging.  They kept their eye on it as best they could. But before they got down to the river the bear had made its way to the bottom of the trail and was moving up it.  They started moving away from the bear as quickly as they dared without spooking it.  Suddenly it charged him and was on him before he could draw his gun.  He lifted his arm to protect his face from the wide-open mouth about to consume him. The bear clomped down on his forearm, breaking it in two places.  He fell to the ground face first, but was unable to move his arms to protect his head.  The bear then bit him on both sides of his head and face, then bit him on the side next to the stomach and finished the attack with a brutal bite to the buttocks.   His friend was screaming and hollering and throwing things to try to scare it away, but unbeknownst to him the bear’s yearling was coming down the trail.  Which, undoubtedly & unavoidably, was why the bear charged.  The rule is to never get between a sow and her cub.  They ran off into the woods after the attack.  Pres. Smith’s friend helped him to the bottom of the trail to the river bank and miraculously had one bar of service so he could call 911 and get help.  They got him to a hospital and stitched him up—a lot of stitches.  The injuries were all non-life threatening.  It’s a miracle that he is alive.  We are hoping to get more details, but one of the challenges he is understandably having is not being able to sleep at night, not from the pain from the wounds, but from the nightmares…PTSD.  We are praying for him and hope he recovers.  We’ve had a lot of great conversations with him over the few months we’ve been here and he is really a great guy.  I was hoping he would take me fishing in the spring.  I really hope he can recover emotionally from the attack and not move away.