Out on Hyatt rd. this guy was chewing on branches. I thought he was waving to us but he was just reaching for a choice branch.

 

I don’t know if it was the texture or the taste

 

But what ever it was it really hit the spot.

 

No, I am not that close to the bear, I’m using an 18-200mm lens so I was able to be at a safe distance.

 

He was very busy getting his daily dose of cellulose fiber  

 

and not concerned at all with the crowd of on lookers. 

 

Next time you go to Cade's Cove look up in the trees, I mean way up in the trees, you never know what you might see.

 

---

 

I went to Big Frog Mountain and did actually see some little bears!


There were a few nice views


The fall colors of brown-ish are already here in places.
I think We’re looking back at Big Frog here. It appears the sun is on my back here so we must be looking north-ish. I’m not sure what the mountain ridge in the background is. Sorry, I wish I could be more help.


We were hiking along at a steady pace. Well, we passed this guy anyway.


About the time I’d pretty well figured I just wasn’t going to see any bears today somebody let out a part of a sentence that started and ended with BEAR!
I didn’t have time to rethink how badly I really wanted to see a bear. Or Shall I say How close and personal I wanted to see a bear.
 I started shooting 
-there was no time to change any settings on the camera, it was just hope for the best.
First Mama Bear boogied out of her tree and crashed through the under brush.


Then baby bear came down.


That’s when we noticed TWO more in another tree!
Excuse me, I’ve got to get a better angle… if I get eaten by bears just try to get the card out of the camera.


If the mother bear is over there am I sorta too close to the baby bears? Just a thought.


Maybe next time I’ll be able to hold the camera still.
                                         Have a bear-y good day.
                                                                             PN

As the sun was going down the clouds opened up just a little


to catch a bit of the sunset.


For a brief moment it was there


and then the clouds set before the sun.


So I put my camera back in the bag and headed down the road.

That’s when I saw the bear crossing the road and didn’t have time to get any pictures


It looked something like this but not exactly like this. I just shared this photo from the guys at Motorcycle Philosophy because it’s pretty much the same view I had, kinda the shaggy butt fast walking across the road and into the ditch before it disappeared into the woods. By the time I got my camera bag open the bear was long gone.  it might’ve been a little bigger than the one in the picture here.


And that’s the story of the bear I didn’t take any pictures of.

I made gingerbread men


well gingerbread bears actually.


I got so busy decorating them that I made black bears with the first batch. All of a sudden it smelled like burn! So I ran to the oven and there they were Black bottomed Bears.

Very disappointing,

I heard that Little J, 2 years old had decapitated ALL of the gingerbread men that his mother had spent the whole day making and decorating with the intention of giving for gifts.
I think it would be better to have unburnt topless gingerbread men than black bottomed gingerbread bears.
I scraped the black off their bottoms with a knife and I got out some leftover maple frosting from another project . My decorating skills didn’t go so well maybe it was because I was using a fork.


I just smeared it all over them. Now they were more like White or light brown bears. They still tasted a little like burn.

They were eaten.

Overheard: “Look, a paraplegic Bear, he doesn’t have any arms or legs”
“Paraplegic? Where’s his head? Isn’t he dead?”
“His head’s right here, I just bit off his ears so now he has a pointy head”



Here's the recipe worked off of
Gingerbread Men:

• 3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) unsulphured molasses

beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. add the flour, baking soda, spices and salt .
Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight or put in the freezer for 20 min or so.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C)
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies. With an offset spatula lift the cut out cookies onto the baking sheet.
Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. Small ones will take about 8 minutes, larger cookies will take about 12 minutes. They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minutes. When they are firm enough to move, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
If desired, you can press raisins, currants, or candies into the dough for eyes and buttons while the cookies are still warm. Otherwise, confectioners frosting can be used to decorate the cookies. You can also use the icing as a glue to attach candies, raisins, and sprinkles.