Bears! Oh, my!

I love holidays, don’t you? Did you know that today, November 16, is “HAVE A PARTY WITH YOUR BEAR” day? Me neither. I am passionate (like, really crazy) about black bears. Maybe it’s because they are the iconic symbol of my favorite place on the planet—the Great Smoky Mountains. So, I had to claim today’s blog post.
You can encounter black bears in various places (and in various forms) around my home.
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
But, I had a very special black bear encounter recently. My family made our annual trip to the Smokies just a few weeks ago. What a treat to see TWELVE bears over our four days there!
As we were packing our cars for our return trip home, we had the sweetest fella stop by to offer help. Check out these photos.
 

 

 

 

 
Isn’t he cute?! Yes, I do recognize that he could rip my arm off . . . but I feel sure he wouldn’t do that. Sweet thing!