Should I write about bears before I go to sleep? Oh what the heck, why not you say? Well, if ever I have a nightmare, it's usually about bears. Awhile ago, I practiced a sort of self-taught therapy where you face your fears in your dreams. I somehow overpowered a bear in my dream and thereafter I was okay for the longest time. I have to remember that I am strong and powerful and after all, it's only a dream, right?
Okay, here is one of my bear stories, as written by my dearly departed Auntie Dianne. Here's what she wrote as part of my 'celebrating 50 years' birthday tribute, put on by my family, but especially my party organizer extraordinaire daughter. If you knew my Auntie Dianne, you will recognize her by the way she speaks, so here is her story.
"Dear Carmen, Here is a little story about your Mom that you may not have heard!
Long ago when Jean was a little girl she lived on a farm in Hudson Bay. This area was considered to be almost a frontier, wild and untamed. Jean at this time was approximately eight years old.
One Friday night after work I drove to Hudson Bay to pick up Jean's Uncle Jerry and take him back to Melfort. Upon arriving at the Busby Farm and going into the house, it was very plain to see there was great excitement happening. The table was set, the food was on the table and everyone's plate was piled high with food. However, the only people sitting at the table were Jean, her Mom and her Grandma Busby. A bear had been spotted and the hunters had lit out on its trail. The hunters' of course being Jean's Dad Glen, Uncle Jerry, her Little Brother Doug and the hired man Bobby.
Now having been raised on a farm and not being smart enough to be afraid Jean and I decided that we should join the hunt. So we jumped in Uncle Jerry's new car and away we went out into the middle of a field and parked the car in solid sand. We very quietly got out of the car and started to walk over to where the men were hunting. I remember that Uncle Jerry was hiding behind a disker, but I truly have no idea where the rest of the men were hiding. We could see the wounded bear up a tree and this was very exciting. Just as Jean and I started to get close to where all the action was happening Jerry yelled "the damn bear has come down out of the tree, and he is headed this way. Run Girls Run the bear is coming after you." At this point I grabbed Jean by the hand and we started to run back to the car. Our adrenaline was pumping so hard that I was dragging Jean behind me because I was older and had to save her from the bear. Then I tripped in the tangled grass, fell flat on my face and Jean still holding my hand kept right on running over top of me, stepped on my head pushing my face down into the stinking grass. Now you must realize that I had a death grip on Jean because I had to save her from the bear! As Jean helped me up we took off running and finally reached the car with those words still ringing in our ears, as Glen yelled "my God the bear is going to catch you Run Girls Run!" We jumped into the car rolled up the windows, locked the doors ...there was no way that bear was going to crawl in the window or open the door and get Jean. I quickly started Jerry's car, threw it into reverse and floored it, promptly burying the back wheels right up to the axles, all the while continuing to floor the car. I bet we were doing a hundred miles an hour and man was I driving. However, we never moved. The men
had to come and pull us out of the sand. How Embarrassing!
Needless to say as the years have passed, the story has been told, embellished and told again. It is wonderful to have such a hilarious memory of Jean and to be able to share it with her on her 50th birthday! Love, Auntie Dianne"
That's my Auntie Dianne alright. It's true. I really did step on her head as I ran over top of her to get away from the bear. Can you imagine? We were in an old farm yard on the south side of the Ridge Road. There was this old abandoned hip-roofed barn sitting there without a speck of paint left on it and I think the big door was gone. Whoever owned the place had those white, stacked honey bee boxes up against the bush. A real attaction for a bear. The bear in the tree, as it turned out was a baby. Have you ever heard a bear cry? It wails loudly and sounds almost exactly like a human baby. I'll never forget that sound. I can still hear him. That poor little guy just cried and cried and cried. I wonder where his mother was, but not far away I would suspect.
Uncle Jerry really was hiding behind the disker and clutching his 22 rifle for all he was worth. His eyes were like saucers, he was white as a ghost and was shaking like a leaf. He could barely talk. (He too passed away at a young age..59 to be exact.) I can still see the look of disbelief on his face when he saw us two girls show up! As you can imagine, he couldn't get us out of there fast enough. Somehow though, I have a sneaking suspicion that my Dad was having a good laugh because I'm pretty sure if the bear was up in the tree and wounded, he sure wasn't going to chase after us. Auntie Dianne says the bear had come down from the tree. Maybe....but, I know my dad. I know when he's laughing and teasing. I knew darn well there was no bear coming, just by the sound of my Dad's voice... but just the look on Uncle Jerry's face was the part that scared me more than anything. He really was scared, no doubt about it....but then again, so were we and I could run really fast given half a chance. I remember her falling, me running over top of her and then realizing I couldn't just leave her there for the bear to get. I remember helping her up and seeing that disgusted look on her face and then both of us laughing like crazy.
I do remember hardly being able to get into the car fast enough. I remember her shaking fingers trying to get the key into the ignition and then once connected, her gunning the motor, sand flying everywhere, but still not moving an inch. We were stuck and there was no moving, even if the bear did decide to come our way....which he didn't I might add. I remember the men finding their way over to us shortly after and laughing like crazy about how dumb we must have looked. I listened to Auntie Dianne tell them what happened and me feeling kind of bad, but not really. Everybody was in such a frenzy about the bear that we became the biggest joke going. I think it was to take the heat off of any of them and their fear. After all, none of them were too expert at hunting bears. Funny how we got sent home right away too...we were shooed off as fast as they could get us out of there, so that at least I for one never really knew what happened to the little bear in the tree. I can only use my imagination and feel bad for the wee little fellow at what his future would hold. After all, I was only a kid.
Like Auntie Dianne said, in the early sixties, to outsiders, Hudson Bay was still a pretty wild and woolly place. I can remember visiting a family on the Ridge Road that had baby bears and fawns (baby deer) penned up in the living room. My grandma, Auntie Hazel, Auntie Dianne, Mom and us kids and cousins stopped in to see these animals. I guess it was kind of a big deal....a bit of an attraction, after all, how often do you find that today? Like never.
Another time, our neighbour was trying to invite us for a meal of bear meat, but my Mom adamantly refused. Thank goodness. They say it is sweet, I hope I never have to find out. Things were different back in those days. I doubt I will ever have another opportunity to try bear meat again. Somehow, I don't really feel that bad about it!
Okay, here is one of my bear stories, as written by my dearly departed Auntie Dianne. Here's what she wrote as part of my 'celebrating 50 years' birthday tribute, put on by my family, but especially my party organizer extraordinaire daughter. If you knew my Auntie Dianne, you will recognize her by the way she speaks, so here is her story.
"Dear Carmen, Here is a little story about your Mom that you may not have heard!
Long ago when Jean was a little girl she lived on a farm in Hudson Bay. This area was considered to be almost a frontier, wild and untamed. Jean at this time was approximately eight years old.
One Friday night after work I drove to Hudson Bay to pick up Jean's Uncle Jerry and take him back to Melfort. Upon arriving at the Busby Farm and going into the house, it was very plain to see there was great excitement happening. The table was set, the food was on the table and everyone's plate was piled high with food. However, the only people sitting at the table were Jean, her Mom and her Grandma Busby. A bear had been spotted and the hunters had lit out on its trail. The hunters' of course being Jean's Dad Glen, Uncle Jerry, her Little Brother Doug and the hired man Bobby.
Now having been raised on a farm and not being smart enough to be afraid Jean and I decided that we should join the hunt. So we jumped in Uncle Jerry's new car and away we went out into the middle of a field and parked the car in solid sand. We very quietly got out of the car and started to walk over to where the men were hunting. I remember that Uncle Jerry was hiding behind a disker, but I truly have no idea where the rest of the men were hiding. We could see the wounded bear up a tree and this was very exciting. Just as Jean and I started to get close to where all the action was happening Jerry yelled "the damn bear has come down out of the tree, and he is headed this way. Run Girls Run the bear is coming after you." At this point I grabbed Jean by the hand and we started to run back to the car. Our adrenaline was pumping so hard that I was dragging Jean behind me because I was older and had to save her from the bear. Then I tripped in the tangled grass, fell flat on my face and Jean still holding my hand kept right on running over top of me, stepped on my head pushing my face down into the stinking grass. Now you must realize that I had a death grip on Jean because I had to save her from the bear! As Jean helped me up we took off running and finally reached the car with those words still ringing in our ears, as Glen yelled "my God the bear is going to catch you Run Girls Run!" We jumped into the car rolled up the windows, locked the doors ...there was no way that bear was going to crawl in the window or open the door and get Jean. I quickly started Jerry's car, threw it into reverse and floored it, promptly burying the back wheels right up to the axles, all the while continuing to floor the car. I bet we were doing a hundred miles an hour and man was I driving. However, we never moved. The men
had to come and pull us out of the sand. How Embarrassing!
Needless to say as the years have passed, the story has been told, embellished and told again. It is wonderful to have such a hilarious memory of Jean and to be able to share it with her on her 50th birthday! Love, Auntie Dianne"
That's my Auntie Dianne alright. It's true. I really did step on her head as I ran over top of her to get away from the bear. Can you imagine? We were in an old farm yard on the south side of the Ridge Road. There was this old abandoned hip-roofed barn sitting there without a speck of paint left on it and I think the big door was gone. Whoever owned the place had those white, stacked honey bee boxes up against the bush. A real attaction for a bear. The bear in the tree, as it turned out was a baby. Have you ever heard a bear cry? It wails loudly and sounds almost exactly like a human baby. I'll never forget that sound. I can still hear him. That poor little guy just cried and cried and cried. I wonder where his mother was, but not far away I would suspect.
Uncle Jerry really was hiding behind the disker and clutching his 22 rifle for all he was worth. His eyes were like saucers, he was white as a ghost and was shaking like a leaf. He could barely talk. (He too passed away at a young age..59 to be exact.) I can still see the look of disbelief on his face when he saw us two girls show up! As you can imagine, he couldn't get us out of there fast enough. Somehow though, I have a sneaking suspicion that my Dad was having a good laugh because I'm pretty sure if the bear was up in the tree and wounded, he sure wasn't going to chase after us. Auntie Dianne says the bear had come down from the tree. Maybe....but, I know my dad. I know when he's laughing and teasing. I knew darn well there was no bear coming, just by the sound of my Dad's voice... but just the look on Uncle Jerry's face was the part that scared me more than anything. He really was scared, no doubt about it....but then again, so were we and I could run really fast given half a chance. I remember her falling, me running over top of her and then realizing I couldn't just leave her there for the bear to get. I remember helping her up and seeing that disgusted look on her face and then both of us laughing like crazy.
I do remember hardly being able to get into the car fast enough. I remember her shaking fingers trying to get the key into the ignition and then once connected, her gunning the motor, sand flying everywhere, but still not moving an inch. We were stuck and there was no moving, even if the bear did decide to come our way....which he didn't I might add. I remember the men finding their way over to us shortly after and laughing like crazy about how dumb we must have looked. I listened to Auntie Dianne tell them what happened and me feeling kind of bad, but not really. Everybody was in such a frenzy about the bear that we became the biggest joke going. I think it was to take the heat off of any of them and their fear. After all, none of them were too expert at hunting bears. Funny how we got sent home right away too...we were shooed off as fast as they could get us out of there, so that at least I for one never really knew what happened to the little bear in the tree. I can only use my imagination and feel bad for the wee little fellow at what his future would hold. After all, I was only a kid.
Like Auntie Dianne said, in the early sixties, to outsiders, Hudson Bay was still a pretty wild and woolly place. I can remember visiting a family on the Ridge Road that had baby bears and fawns (baby deer) penned up in the living room. My grandma, Auntie Hazel, Auntie Dianne, Mom and us kids and cousins stopped in to see these animals. I guess it was kind of a big deal....a bit of an attraction, after all, how often do you find that today? Like never.
Another time, our neighbour was trying to invite us for a meal of bear meat, but my Mom adamantly refused. Thank goodness. They say it is sweet, I hope I never have to find out. Things were different back in those days. I doubt I will ever have another opportunity to try bear meat again. Somehow, I don't really feel that bad about it!
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