My dreams have come true in the form of a mountain house high in Western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest. My soul is at home here, there is no doubt.
Our meadow. Our view.
But it didn’t taken long to come to the realization this is a wild kind of country for which I am not prepared. I am a child of the mountains, yes. But I grew up “in town,” even if that town had a population less than 3,000.
Not so here.
There are 18 homes in our mile-high neighborhood, exactly none of which are in sight and two-thirds of which are uninhabited at any given time. It is glorious–mountains roll on for miles and miles and I promise you, you hear nothing but wind and birds. How we love it!
How blessed we are.
And still I have a healthy respect for the natural world here on this mountaintop. Snakes, yes of course. And Black Bears that roam with such freedom it doesn’t take long to understand why they’re a part of the decor of every WNC mountain home. Tim and I have been a little obsessed; we’ve caught bear glimpses from the safety of our car as we’ve moved around the mountain during these, our first summer weekends here. And we watch for them every time we step outside (particularly when our sweet dog, Little Bit, is in tow). With the wild blueberries in season–and the currently overgrown meadow that lies just below our back deck housing so many bushes–we know we’re likely to have regular bear visits.
It didn’t take long.
our first bear
We’d just been in the meadow, out there making a quick check of the blueberry crop. And two minutes later–maybe?–we’d come back to the deck when I looked out to see this guy.
He seemed to have a healthy respect for us, too, as he watched us watch him for a while, then he turned to go.
We’ll be here a few more days.
We’ll all be keeping an eye out!
#30DaysofFun
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How clever the black bear is to be observing his new neighbors. How lucky he is to have the Mountain Monettis.