Month: October 2003

The mother black bear and three cubs (described in May entries) returned. The mother was at first not recognizable, having lost a good fifty pounds. The cubs, on the other hand, have doubled their weight and size, and are eating, not nursing. They found full bird feeders, of course, and ate heartily, though it hardly seems much fare for such a large quartet.

(It is incredible to think that some states of the US permit these creatures to be hunted down and killed. One is pressed to distinguish between one mammal and another. …

The heavy rains have created a couple of small waterfalls down the road, spontaneous and delicate, to last only as long as the land drains the abundant waters. In many households, this sound –artificially generated by a little electric pump — masks obnoxious noises as “white noise.” But here, at twilight, there are no human sounds, and nature offers a gift. To paraphrase the old question: If water falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Oh, yes. The whole universe is making this beautiful sound — but we must be “here” in order to hear it.