In my backyard?

 Well, there you have it. For fourteen years I've been saying, "one day a bear will walk through here". Imagine my surprise as one of the largest black bears I've ever seen lumbered along right beside my deck last week. He looked back at me while I was taking photos with my phone, but never stopped walking.

He was majestic and cute all at the same time. His coat was black as coal and shiny. Healthy, I think. He was quickly named Barney, but hasn't been back for a visit...yet. I guess that's a good thing seeing I'd like to keep my bird feeders and deer feeding stations in one place.

As I watched him walk down the path to my neighbor's home, his natural strength took my heart. I felt his need to survive. I felt his need to find sustenance in the growing forest surrounding my home and other places he would travel to that day. But mostly, I found love in that strength. Love for life and how hard he would fight for it should he be challenged.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for me. I fight daily to keep cancer from growing more than it already has in my body. And in this fight I know it takes strength, along with love of life, to keep moving forward. Like the bear in my woods, I feel I have much to do yet, and I can't stop if my need to survive is too great.
And it is....