Nature heals

When I arrived in a bar in southern Alberta to meet Nina, I had not seen a bear. I told Nina I didn’t believe in bears, and that I was convinced she and the other Canadians had created this conspiracy of mythical animals - meese, woodchucks, bears - to boost tourism. She laughed, but seemed a little offended.

 I told her I wasn’t afraid of bears. Being mammalian, they seemed reasonable. Nina, who I meet once a year for hiking, debauchery, and general adventure, said I just hadn’t met a bear yet. I said meeting a bear would be like meeting a dog, we’d be able to make ourselves understood. Bears didn’t seem as foreign as reptiles, which are unreasonable and hide under your feet