Eyes Wide Open

Dahlinova

I have to share a funny story with you.  Plus I thought it would be fun to connect all of these pics together.  But before I begin, I found this hot little number in my parents potted flower garden.  It's called Dahlinova and had me constantly staring at it.  Pretty nice flower in mostly shade.  In fact, they looked almost fake.  People would keep touching them telling my parents, "Nice fake flowers!" And then my parents would yell, "Stop touching those flowers, they're not fake."  The other people would then respond, "oh!" and stop pulling off the flower petals.  Good times:)  So let's begin our story.  Picture it.  Wisconsin Dells.  Lady on the boat sharing her story about gardening in Wausau, Wisconsin. 

She was working out in her garden on her roses and many other flowers.  I imagined her place having a gazebo with these hot numbers all around.  She's humming to herself a hobbit tune like most of us do as we work in the garden.

All around her were birds and bunnies.  She's happy and they're happy.  It's like Snow White...but without the 7 dwarves.

She's working on transplanting all her fantastic Wisconsin flowers that I cannot grow in my Tucson garden.  I keep the envy to myself.

Afterall the desert is an amazing place and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but I do miss all the pretty blooms and blossoms of the midwest.  But her singing and planting flowers cease and her story turns into a scary moment.  I listen intently.  She hears that grunting and scratching......and no...it's not her husband.

Chipping Sparrow

And she freezes.  A black bear comes out of the woods and digs around a tree stump near her garden. It eventually leaves and I'm still listening. Wow!!!  I had forgotten about black bears, foxes, skunks, et al.  "How cool is that?!!!!", I say outloud.  She just laughs and says it happens often around her area.  But this is shocking to me.....Central Wisconsin?!?!  That's awesome!  Black bear are fine unless there are cubs involved.  The cubs love to play with people and they are adorable.  But momma bear doesn't like this and that's when they can be dangerous.  I wonder if Momma bear was trapped and relocated and she replies, "Nope.  They're okay as long as they don't attack people."  And I thought to myself, right on Wisconsin.   End of story.

Now I'm not sure I would want to encounter a black bear while landscaping just like I don't like finding snakes hiding around my pots here in Tucson.....but hey, after the heebie jeebies pass me by, I think I would be happy to see one pass by.....just stay out of the garbage and don't overstay the visit:)

And on a more positive note.  Did you know that Mountain Lion and Black Bear populations are slowly coming back to Wisconsin?  That's good news for most people.  Now if they could get that Lynx to return back in the numbers from the early 20th century....

And my last thought here.  Are the numbers increasing because more people are staying indoors and eating cheese nips and playing video games?  Is the American or world population not as active as it once was outdoors? You should see my waist line expanse:)  Does less human traffic equal an increase in wildlife numbers?  Or are we doing a better job preserving land around our country?  Because our wildlife numbers never used to be like this while I was growing up.  Can we blame the Atari generation for the downfall of outdoor activity? Just stuff I think about. How's that for random?:) More tomorrow....