5:56 a.m.
The dogs woke me first by jumping up on the bed. It was while laying there desperately trying to go back to sleep for just a tiny bit longer that I heard a noise from outside. A loud thump. Like a trash can being toppled over. Oh no; crap. That can only mean one thing. Should I get up to see? I get up, tweak open the curtains and peek out. Yup, just as I thought. Bear. I watch as it expertly pops off the lid and drags a bag into the yard. It lays down very much at home and begins eating its tasty breakfast of garbage. (I have to apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos. It was still pretty dark out.)

Rick and I both went out the front door clapping our hands and making shooing noises. The bear just looked at us as if to say “get lost!” Not moving. No way.

What to do? Rick got in the car and drove to the top of the driveway hoping that would scare it away but it only drug yet another bag to the edge of our neighbor’s woods and continued munching away. Rick opened and closed the car door a few times and the bear decided he’d had enough and moved on. He picked up the trash and put the lids back on. The bear was headed for our neighbor’s trash at the end of our cul-de-sac so Rick drove up to move it along so it didn’t get into more trouble. Kind of like herding a recalcitrant cow. Get along little doggy!

When I asked what it was that the bear had found so tasty, Rick said he had pulled out mostly vegetables, like the leavings of our coleslaw (cabbage, carrots) and not the trimmings from our pulled pork. We think it was the youngster (I am going to call him “Junior”) that camped out in the neighbor’s utility trailer over the winter. He’s a brazen one.

And that’s how our day today started out. How is your day going so far?

This photo looks almost like a watercolor painting (I’d like to think of it that way instead of calling it a blurry photo!) so I’m giving this piece of “artwork” a name.

P.S. They do sell bear-proof trash cans here but we’ve never had trouble. Maybe we need to think about purchasing one with Junior around ...