It was 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon when Elsa-the-Dog begged to go out on the deck. She loves just looking around her “estate” from the safety of the rails and rungs.
So out we went to sit in the shade of the eaves and contemplate sudden fair weather. Surely the wispy breeze and floods of sunshine would make us safe from the dreaded virus.
As I was about to doze off, Elsa suddenly sprang to life and trotted to a corner of the deck. She likes to chase bumble bees and I thought that was her goal.
But then she zipped over to the opposite end and then zipped back. She was definitely on the alert and straining to look in one direction through the rails and I too looked in that direction to see what all the fuss was about.
What I saw was a very large VERY LARGE Virginia Black Bear who was ambling along the edge of our woods. He had obviously been at both ends below our deck and was certainly interested in my hummingbird feeder!
About the time I put this all together in my slowly emerging brain, Elsa was growling and barking, and the BIG BEAR began to run. Thankfully, it was running away and not toward us. Elsa kept up a loud piercing bark that I think made her seem to be a giant adversary instead of a little twerp of a dog.
And the VERY LARGE bear ran all the way out of sight and into the forest.
Thank you Elsa-the-Dog for your grand big-dog bark and for your courage in sounding the alarm. You are my heroine!
Anyway, who said sheltering in place is not exciting?
Virginia Views 