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Back to the Mantra

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Last week I was on the two-and-a-half-mile loop trail off the Avenue of the Giants near Pepperwood in a thick grove of giant redwoods. The ground cover was knee high with ferns as far as I could see. I sat down to meditate on a hundred-foot fallen giant, somewhat apprehensive about a recent headline in the Times Standard that read: 'North Coast Bear Alert.'

The lingering rains this year of El Ni-o have delayed the coming of wild berries and other forest edibles, the article said, forcing the huge shaggy creatures to forage for grub along roadways, in dumpsters, trash cans, back yards and the like of the human habitat. But serious encounters with people had not been reported.

Sitting there, I closed my eyes and quietly introduced my mantra. But I hearkened at every rustle, snap and whoosh my ear detected and peered through squinted eyes to verify. Back to the mantra.

Did I have an odor that he could smell? Back to the mantra.

The local bear species is typically not dangerous to people like the grizzly was who is no longer in this area, but when hungry he might behave atypically, I thought to myself. Back to the mantra.

Maybe I should have packed in the .45 this trip. Back to the mantra.

Meditation was not going smoothly that morning.

My sister and brother-in-law are coming up from the Bay Area next week for a short visit. They want to dig for fossils in the Scotia Bluffs across the Eel River from Rio Dell. I've been looking at those fascinating sandstone formations out of my window for a many months but haven't ventured across the river yet. I'll have to find a boat, I guess.

In the process of reserving a motel room for them, I landed a job for Miller Typographers, my fledgling retirement graphics business. The owner of the motel, Jim, wants me to design a brochure, a post card, and a room directory of 'Places to Go and Things to Do' for his guests. I have no idea how to charge him. I'll just come up with some rough drafts and go from there.

Back to the drawing board.

One-time article Copyright 1998 by Humboldt Senior Resource Center.