Talking with Bears by G. A. Bradshaw

Author:G. A. Bradshaw
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781771603621
Publisher: RMB | Rocky Mountain Books

Chapter Six

The Bear Who Liked to Dive

It was a beautiful day. He sat high above the lake on a grassy bench, eyes roaming lazily, variously touching sky, water, shore. The sky’s cloudless expanse met a sea of glinting blue diamonds. Aside from the wind’s breathy whisper and the lake’s lapping waves, there wasn’t a sound. An approaching crunch of steps and voices broke the quiet. A mop of grey hair bobbed by and two golden cubs rolled into view. He watched the man stop and take out a pole. The cubs stood next to the man facing the lake. In a swinging arc, a line flew through the air and landed beyond the shallows. It wasn’t long before the line began to move. A splash of red broke surface. The man had caught something – a huge, mouth-watering sockeye salmon. Hurdling himself over the bank, the bear slid down in a cascade of scree, past the man, past the cubs, into the water. A dissonant chorus of spraying water, frantic shouts, twisting boots and body broke out. The man reached down to the fish, and before the bear knew it, the salmon was gone. His chest pushing against the cold green water, the glistening bear waded to shore and climbed back up to the grassy bench. He shook himself off and lay down to dry. No worry…. The salmon would be back. It was a beautiful day, indeed.

“Play was important for the cubs. Their world wants to be around play at that age. It was wonderful to be with them. They were always playing and you could not help but feel joy because of their joy. Their roaring around, chasing each other and jumping into the water – it was infectious. Just now, thinking of them, I can’t help but laugh. Once you are able to join them in play, it makes the world completely different. If you see Edge of Eden, like the part when I take the cubs sliding on the snow, they are watching me and trying to figure things out. They aren’t very coordinated when they get so enthusiastic and slide and jump in the air. First, when they try something out, it’s a serious attempt, then as soon as they feel reasonably safe, all hell breaks loose. They test themselves even further, like in the snow, trying out steeper slopes. When they do this, they become a deeper and deeper part of the world they were born in.”

Unless you spent a fair bit of time with Charlie, you might not recognize how every fibre of his body was wired for joy. Except for moments when no word but “tragic” can be scavenged, he was poised to ignite with delight and discovery. Even when personal circumstances were dire, there was always a kernel of humour to uncover. Take the story of his last plane crash.

Charlie had just come off helping a friend with a filming project in the Northwest Territories. He’d been hired

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