There are some things you can say to a bear that would not harm them. However, if you attempt to start a fight with a bear, you will just end up getting yourself a large lecture on why mankind shouldn’t be trusted around bears at all.
Never say to a bear “hey bear, let’s go on a little safari buddy”, as if you’re offering them a bowl of food and water. If you’re lucky, they might say yes, but only because they’re being polite. More often than not, what you’ll really be doing is expressing your gratefulness that they agree to go on the safari with you.
Try saying something like “hey bear, nice safari”, instead of “hey bear, nice to see you”. If they start yelling at you, you can then threaten them with harder language.
My older brother offered to take me on a very elaborate (and failed) safari in the 80’s on aery%&eur%&eur%&eur%, however I turned him down flat out. He said I could do it later, as I was such a girly. However, he never disappointed my siblings, and in fact taught them a valuable lesson as they fled the scene. Needless to say, I was not welcomed back into the family circle, for good.
The next time I saw my brother, we were in Australia and he was volunteering at the Aspen Institute on various forums. He messaged me and asked me if I had enjoyed the past decade in Australia. I told him the Aspen Institute had a reputation for getting some pretty weird crackpots into power, and eventually NWAs [ Northwest Waters Reno Order ] as well. He agreed that my take on things was spot on, and that is why he and NWAs [ Northwest Waters Reno Order ] are currently wasting time trying to create a non-existent system to overthrow me.
He then asked me if I had any ideas as to how they could prevent themselves from being oppressive to the less influential members of the community. I replied with the above suggestion, and then asked him “would you like to hear something else?” before revealing the rest of my intentions.
He sharply agreed with me that this was “one of the few good ideas I’ve ever heard”. As we got to talking about other ideas, he mentioned that there needed to be a “re-alignment” in the way these groups interacted with one another. He felt that if this was done from the inside, rather than from outside, that things would change for the better.
He went on to tell me that he and a number of other members of his charismatic ice-cold water fishing ‘family’ had left the church years ago, and had not been active in the church at all. He felt that his time as a Sunday School teacher had been extremely productive, and that his church planting efforts had been extremely successful. I thought that this man could not begrudge me anything as far as his current religion.
I am grateful for the precious spiritual nutrients that I am nourished with every single hour that I spend at church. I am even more grateful for the precious gifts of friendship and connection that I have been blessed with through hiking and through talking with my best friends. I continue to be amazed at how precious these things are, and how wonderfully helpful it is to have them Every step of the way.
Will we eventually gain enough traction to move mountains? It’s hard to think that anything is impossible, but we can do this. We just need to keep working at it. We need to keep packing the food in and setting up the tents on the right day and time, at the right time of day and time of year. We need to do this every single day.
If we did not have this amazing spiritual connection and our abundantly generous blessings, would we have the strength to attempt such a taxing endeavor as hiking the North Coast Trail? Would we have the fortitude to stay positive while experiencing the very real fear of physical pain and exhaustion? It would be so easy to let fear take over us.
I’ve written this article to try and reach out and try and help in some small measure to keep some of those elusive pieces of strength that nature so graciously provides us. I’m not trying to make the North Coast Trail without the help of government and private donations. I’m not even close to being done with this. I’m just lucky that I have this opportunity right before my eyes.
I want to be clear that I am very fortunate. I have amazing friends who are missionaries working hard to help others in their community and I’ve been blessed with parents who love me for who I am. I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to be in the care of my friends and my family.
I still need to work on this.
