Hi All,

It would seem, or at least from my observations, that while bears certainly do eat pears, they don't seem to actually like pears. There is a pear tree on the lawn of the house across the street from us and just like every year, it is heavily laden with pears again this year. The other afternoon I spent some time out on our front balcony watching a bear eat the pears that had fallen from the tree. My purpose for spending the time on the balcony wasn't so much to watch the bear but to keep an eye out for the many kids that walk up and down our street, and for the dog walkers that constantly go by. I would have warned anyone headed this way to turn back until the bear was finished and had headed back into the forest. As I kept an eye on the bear and the street I noticed that the bear never stopped grumbling and complaining as it devoured the fruit. It would take a bite from a pear and be quite vocal as to what it thought of it, then take another bite and complain again. At one point it abandoned the remaining pears and headed down the side yard of that house toward the forest. A while later it came back for the rest of the fruit but grumbled the whole time. I guess when you are hungry you must eat whether or not you like what you are eating.

You know, the bears around here are very hungry, in fact they are starving and desperate. This summer was brutal on the local wild life and that was after a winter that was very hard on the wild creatures as well. The heat and drought meant there was very little available for animals like bears to eat and now those that survived this long must find something, anything, to chow down on before they must hibernate. Something thats always bugged me is that we are supposed to remove all fruit and vegetables growing in our gardens and on our lawns so the bears are not attracted to them, but there is nothing 'natural' out there for them to survive on. We have built our towns right in the middle of their habitat and then deny them of their natural food sources. And when they do come into our towns in search of something to eat, we trap and or shoot them. Somehow seems a bit unfair.
I don't think there are too many nice riding days left this season. The days are getting cooler and the nights are getting colder and there are now more rainy days than sunny days. The snow-line is creeping down the mountain sides. So, whenever I can get out on the bike I must make good use of the opportunity. To that end I did a nice ride in to Horseshoe Bay on Friday. I was nicely bundled up so the high temp of about +10 was not a problem. The sun was shining on the fresh snow not-so-high above me and the ride was great. But, each ride this time of year in this part of the world could very well be the last of the season as the fall rains and frosty mornings start to make riding a bit unwise. So, each ride I can still do is great and each ride could be the last of the season. Still hoping for a few more before putting the bike away for the winter. Thats always a rather sad time for me.

I got a note from Greg's wife Carole yesterday letting me, and us, know that Greg went in for his heart surgery early Friday and the surgery went very well. Last I heard he was in recovery and will be on the mend. Here's wishing Greg and Carole all the best.