Montana House: Story One

My first day of being alone here in Montana and there's a grizzly bear in the neighborhood.  He was shooed away from one garage only to be found in the next garbage.  Two of the neighbors did some chasing and some gun shot firing, in the air not at the bear, and that grizzly wasn't fazed a bit.  It's like he has found his groove here.  

After I finished working, I put on my tennies to go for a walk.  I went to see if the one neighbor still was babysitting the other neighbor's dog named Lefty to steal him to take with me.

I think this may be getting confusing.  So far I have discussed four neighbors and only one has doubled up - bear chaser and Lefty babysitter is the same person.  Also, I feel like maybe I should explain that Lefty is a little bit of everyone's dog; he just frolics about and settles in wherever people are outside.  Before the great knee surgery of 2015, he liked to go on long runs with me too.  This is why I felt okay with stealing him.  

Alright back to the story.  

Tennies on.  Walked to the neighbor's house.  Found the neighbor talking to the other neighbor about just doing the shooting, chasing, and attempting to get the grizzly to find a new home routine.  Casually mentioned I wanted to steal Lefty for a walk.  

Was quickly returned with, "You can walk my golf course instead.  One loop around is a quarter mile and that way you'll be close by."  

I interpreted this to mean that way you'll be close by so the bear won't actually eat you, he'll just try.  I'm dramatic like that.   

So I walked their golf course around and around.  Then I went to water trees and do other yard work.  Then Kiel called and I told him all about the grizzly.  Then I went back to yard puttering in the pretty sunset-like air.  

Then I sent this text to Kiel, "I just heard shots again.  And yelling."

To which he replied, "Stay by the house."

To which I replied, "I am and I have bear spray with me."  

Then I texted him a pretty picture of the sunset against the trees and house because that's what I do in these situations.  Take a picture.  

Then I grabbed a book to sit outside and read.  

I figure if I'm going to be a Montana girl, then I best be okay with a roaming grizzly.  Even if we are fairly certain we heard him eating a cow in the coulee across the road earlier this summer.  Whatever.  

This is a grizzly bear, but not the one in this neighborhood.  Just for clarification, we don't have nearly this many broken down trees.  We don't have any actually, just little baby trees that we water to get to grow, grow, grow.  It feels like a full time job.     

This is an elk.

Again, not in our exact neighborhood as we don't have a lake out front either.  Here's the good news folks...I haven't stopped with loving to state the obvious.  

This is a color scheme I would like in a kitchen one day.  Copper!  I need not say more. 

This is a bison.  Go Bison!  

Here's the other good news folks...I haven't stopped being entirely random either.