I'm back!

Greetings & salivations, um salutations! Sorry, I was thinking about the tuna steak daddy shared with me yesterday. TA-sty! Does it seem like forever since I have written? It does to me! Some of you likely added to your family in the time since my last poignant internet missive.

Much of the blame, eh, reason for my long sabbatical has to do with the young munchkin in our family. In the time since I last wrote, she turned one and learned to walk. Ee-gad the mere thought of her walking, well now running inspires terror in my soul! Don’t misunderstand me; she’s really pretty nice and certainly well intentioned. However, as she is now officially a toddler, you don’t know where her sticky paws have been recently or where she’ll deposit you when her short attention span turns from you to something else. The cat and I, we have to watch out! What with all the walking and more talking, mommy & daddy have taken to blogging more, which has left much less time for ME. Shame on them!

I would shower you with pictures of all of my many travels, but there haven’t been nearly enough and I have been conveniently “forgotten” on others. Humph! Well, at least I got to go on vacation with them last week.

We had a good trip. First, it was off to Florence to visit friends and attend a wedding. Florence will always be special to me as it is where I found my voice. I told the baby how much mommy & daddy loved the people here. She grinned and broke wind, so I think she understood.

After several days in Florence, it was off to Grammy & Grumpa’s in the hills of North Carolina. It was very good to be back around my natural habitat and to see my best bud Smokey! We spent many hours catching up. Smokey had been taking care of Grammy for several days. She fell and broke her arm about a week before we arrived, so she wasn’t feeling too good. Like me, Smokey is a licensed cuddleologist, so he was on the case, helping Grammy feel better. Of course, the munchkin helped with that too.

While we were there, we got to see the beautiful fall colors. As you can see, it was beautiful! Mommy & Daddy visited a place called Max Patch where they saw some great color and Daddy & Grumpa hiked up to the top of Lynn Lowery and got a spectacular view. Lynn Lowery is named for a young girl who died of cancer. She loved the mountains so much her parents bought the top of a mountain and put a huge lighted cross on top. At night you can see it for miles. Very cool!

While there, we also visited a cool barbeque place in Asheville called the Fiddling Pig. We had some tasty BBQ and listened to some great bluegrass from Balsam Range . Yeehaw! I wish I could play the banjo! . . . Wait, what am I saying, I don’t have any fingers. Oh, the humanity!

Sigh! Well, anyway, we had a lot of fun and mommy and daddy said it was very relaxing. From North Carolina, we went to see Grandmother & Granddaddy in east Alabama. Daddy and a friend went to the Auburn – Ole Miss game Saturday night and had great fun watching the Tigers tame the Rebels. While in Alabama, we had lots of grandmother’s uber-tasty food. Um-mm! Then, it was home to one peeved cat. I think she’s forgiven us, but she ranted and raved to me for an hour until I told her to speak to the paw.

Well, I’d better go. The humans are coming, the humans are coming! Anyway, hopefully I’ll write again soon and tell you of my adventures at Bellingrath Gardens. Remember what I always say: A salmon a day keeps the brown bear full and happy. (That’s good because a full, happy brown bear doesn’t look at you and think, “dinner!”) Hehehe! So long for now!

It's Bearly 2007. . .

I wish you a Merry Christmas. I wish you a Merry Christmas! I wish you a Beary Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Glad tidings I bring to you and your cubs, glad tidings for Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Hello, everyone!! Happy 2007 to you! I hope you all had as enjoyable a Christmas as I did. As usual, we did the tour de parents.

What a fun time we had! Things really began on December 23rd. We had our immediate family Christmas celebration with Mommy, Daddy, the munchkin, the wily feline, and me. It was the munchkin’s (i.e. the baby’s) first Christmas, so you can imagine the hype. There was a lot of paper on the floor, which the cat and the baby both enjoyed immensely. I immensely enjoyed the smoked salmon that we had. Now that’s my kind of traditional family dinner! I also got a new Auburn t-shirt. Sporty! On Sunday, we went to church and then it was off to grandmamma & granddaddy’s house in east Alabama. We got there and attended a Christmas Eve service to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

On Monday morning, the “baby’s first Christmas” hype went into overdrive. She and I got a cool Santa hat that we’ve been sharing. As her head will keep growing, I’ll get to keep it and wear it again next year! The little munchkin got lots of cool presents from her grandparents and her great Aunt. Daddy got a REALLY cool t-shirt quilt that mommy made using a bunch of his old college t-shirts. It’s the bomb! The baby also got a cool rocking chair from her North Carolina grandparents. The chair is 95 years old and belonged to her great-grandma. Now that’s old! As usual we had a lot of good food. I love to forage at grandmama’s. TA-ASTY!

A few days later, it was off to North Carolina. We were hoping for snow, but had to settle for cold weather. Again, the munchkin was the star of the show. As usual, Smokey was there and we had a great time catching up. I also made a new friend. Grammy and Grumpa’s Wisconsin grandson sent a raccoon named Rocky to live with them. It turns out that he was the mascot for the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Smokey and I were afraid that he would be too intellectual for us, but it turns out he’s quite a cool guy. In fact, he gave me some great tips for enhancing my blog. He says that the raccoons at MSOE are working on new and better ways to catch salmon. I became an instant fan!

On Friday, the munchkin’s Birmingham cousin and her family came up to North Carolina. We had a house full. Rocky, Smokey, and I were sitting around the Christmas tree talking when they got there. Wouldn’t you know it the little cousin came straight for us? I looked over at mom and dad and said, “Help!” Luckily, she was easily distracted and put me down quickly. Whew!

Saturday, we returned to east Alabama where we got to see our great aunt’s new house! It’s really nice. The munchkin liked it too. Instead of blessing it with special water, she drooled on the floor of the living room. All in all, it was a fun trip. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year!

Have you made any resolutions for the New Year? I’ve resolved to eat more salmon. I think I can keep this one. He he! Well, I must go prepare for the Auburn game. War Eagle! As I leave, I will share with you a new song I learned over the holiday!

“Six little ducks that I once knew
Stuffed ones, oven-roasted, braised ones too
But the one little duck with the feather on his back
He made a tasty little snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
He made a tasty little snack, snack, snack.

Down to the table they could come
Wibble wobble wibble wobble oh yum yum!
But the one little duck with the feather on his back
He made a tasty little snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
He made a tasty little snack, snack, snack.

Back from the table Jr comes
Rubbin his belly and smackin’ his gums
He says the one little duck with the feather on his back
He sure made a tasty little snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
Snack, snack, snack
He sure made a tasty little snack, snack, snack!”

A Traveling Bear

On the road again, like a band of grizzlies we go down the highway. We’re the best of friends. . . . oh, hello, again! I just returned from another trip and was reminiscing when I noticed that mom & dad had left the computer on. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t blogged in a while and there must certainly be some people waiting with baited breath to hear of my latest adventures.

Once again, we went to the mountains and spent some time around my natural habitat. Of course, Smokey was there and we spent a lot of time catching up and enjoying the cool, fall weather and the bright colors of the leaves. As you know, we have a baby in the family and she was, of course, the star of the trip. I made mom and dad promise before we had her, that she would have her own bear and that I would not be he. That is not working out. While she has several bears, including my buddy, Grizz, she seems to have an affinity for me. That’s understandable given my cuddliness, my cubbish looks, and my bearly profile. However, her idea of affection is to pound me on the head. Though I appreciate the gesture (hehe!), it hurts! She’s a feisty little thing! I know she means well, but I’m going to have to start wearing a helmet. Perhaps I need to start asking for more salmon . . . That is doubly true now that she has begun to crawl. Nowhere is safe! At least my feline friend, Alley, is quick enough to get away.

Well, time to go. I have to get ready to root for my favorite team this weekend. Who, you ask? Who else? Da-Bears!

On the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again. My whole life is fishing for salmon with my friends, and I can’t wait to get on the road again.

This week's sign . . .

This week's sign that the apocalypse is upon us: "Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is #1 at the movies. Please, just let me burn the $8 instead!

Summertime on the Gulf Coast

I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know where I’m a’gonna go when the hurricane blows. Oh, hello! Once again, mommy & daddy have left the computer on so that I can blog. I wonder if Jimmy Buffett would mind if I changed his lyrics a little. They’re both natural disasters, right? Anyway, I was sitting here contemplating summer on the Gulf Coast. My one, overriding, thought: IT’S HOTTT! Those of you in northern states are thinking, “Oh, it must be warm there.” Warm is an oven setting. Warm doesn’t factor in 70% humidity on 90 degree days. Warm doesn’t make your glasses fog up or your clothes stick to you. Warm doesn’t mat your fur! No, sir, it’s just plain hot.

How do I cope you ask? One word: seafood! Fortunately, even though the weather outside is frightful, the dining on the waterfront is quite delightful. When it gets unbearable (pardon the pun), I rally mom & dad to take me to Ed’s. Nothing helps me deal with the heat like a dozen lightly battered and fried Gulf shrimp! Of course, you can’t eat the shrimp by themselves, they might get lonely. So, I add a side of savory cheese grits, a cup of tasty seafood gumbo (spicy!), and a couple of small pups. What? Oh, don’t look at your screen that way! I am after all a civilized little brown bear. Oh, if I must, I’ll spell it out for those of you in California: hushpuppies! Wash it all down with a tasty glass of sweet iced tea and you’ve got yourself a cure for the “It’s darn hot!” blues.


The only problem is that if you eat that much tasty food very often, you put on a few pounds. Since I want to maintain my cubbish figure, I have looked for ways to keep in shape. I can’t afford to get sluggish. Soon the baby in our family will be a toddler and I will need all my speed and cunning to escape her sticky, drool covered little paws.

I’ve tried several forms of exercise. The Resist-a-ball was an interesting contraption. Unfortunately, by the time I got it blown up, I was too exhausted to work out. It makes a nice nap spot, at least until you roll over in your sleep. It’s a long way down for a little brown bear! The treadmill was more to my liking. I just have to be careful not to get it going too fast. My legs, they are kind of short!


Well, I’d better get going. I have to keep watch. There was a Jim Cantorre sighting in our neighborhood. We don’t want any of those hurricane attracting Weather Channel dudes anywhere close to us! See you later!

Wastin’ away again just east of D’Iberville; searchin’ for my lost stringer of shrimp; Some people claim that there’s a woman to blame, and I know.

Vacation

Vacation, all I ever wanted. Vacation. . .

Oh, hello! It’s me, Junior just reminiscing about last week. Mom, Dad, Maggie, and I went on vacation! It was a lot of fun! Oh, by the way, let me wish you all a belated Happy 4th of July! I hope you all celebrated our country’s birthday with your family and friends. Did you sing my song? You know the one, “He’s a grand ‘ol bear. He’s a high flyin’ bear. Forever, in peace, may he wave”. (Picture me waving here). Hehehe!


Anyway, we spent last week enjoying the company of our family. Last Sunday, we drove to Dad’s parents and spent two days with Granddaddy, Grandmamma, and Aunt Peg. I didn’t get to participate much since they don’t speak bear, but that’s ok. I hung out downstairs and caught up on my reading. The relatives were all smitten by Maggie. She’s 5 ½ months old now. As the only grandchild on dad’s side of the family, she is the center of attention. While there, I did eat very well and enjoyed hearing about the fun that was had celebrating Grandmamma’s birthday and the 4th of July. Grandmamma can cook!! TAAAAsty!

After lunch on the 4th, we packed up and headed north to the mountains of North Carolina to visit mom’s folks, Grammy and Grumpa. We arrived to temperatures in the 70s, a wonderful change from the 90s we’d left. This fur coat gets hot in the Alabama summer! Grammy had BBQ ribs waiting for us. They were great! The best part was that my best bear bud, Smokey was waiting for me. He is also a little brown bear, albeit, a bit more famous than I.

It was a great four days. Smokey and I spent a lot of time on the window sill talking and we had some great food (He says he always eats better when we come to visit). He also introduced me to another little brown bear that had come to live with them. He’s a little quiet and kind of has a wooden personality, but even so, I felt that he welcomed me. We also spent some time roaming around in the forest. It was GREAT to be back in the woods! I was also able to spend some more time catching up my reading on the deck and learning about Big Creek and Mouse Creek Falls where mom, dad, and Grumpa went to hike. They said I would have loved it!


Well, now we are home again. It was nice to lie on my own bed and be back in my own den. Oh, what’s that? Ah, yes. Duty calls. I must return to my work as counselor and cuddleologist. So long!

I am a little brown bear.

Hello world! Allow me to introduce myself. I am Junior Bear. I am a little brown bear. You may call me Jr. I'm not sure when exactly I came into this world, but my life began when I was picked up by a nice girl in a bookstore. Her name is Heather. She took me home (how could I resist) and I have been her faithful companion now for 10 years. Four years ago, she married a nice guy named Ben who eventually helped me to find my voice. Now, I am just like part of the family! I faithfully serve as their marriage counselor, traveling companion, cuddlelologist, and of course, I am a source of much amusement. They take me along on many of their adventures and the world has opened up to me over the past 4 years. So now I have decided to try my paw at blogging. Maybe I can amuse you too!