July 27

Awoke to overcast and occasional rain spit.  We just heard the bear that has been scaring people at our future campsite in Denali Park has been killed.  We have known of the situation for some time but hesitated to say anything so we didn’t scare Minde.  The Savage River Campsite is known to be one of the least active for animals in the park. There are a couple good trails nearby that we wanted to take but out of the blue this young bear kept coming through and was very aggressive with humans.  We know this is incredibly unusual and suspected there was something physically not right with it.  They had closed the trails and restricted the camping to hard side vehicles only.  So, we could still camp but would have to be very careful and not be able to take the trails.  The bear was young, 3 years old, and had a list of issues from fractures to a tooth that grew through his jaw.  He was in pain and starving.  The park rangers tried bean bag shots to scare him away but he would eventually come back.  We are sad at his desperation but a cull was probably for the best.  Once they associate food with humans and the fact he actually bit a human, he was on the hit list.  The park has not had to kill a bear in 40 years which is amazing given the growing impact and intrusion of humans into this wilderness especially at the peak of their hunting for survival, preparing for hibernation.  It is likely this bear would not have lasted the winter.  Now things are back to normal and we should not have any problems at the campsite or the trails in the area.  Regardless, we will buy bear spray and have a canister for Minde.  And of course we will have our bear bells to warn them of our presence because they really want to avoid us as long as they have warning we’re in the area.

Brenna’s in-laws gave them a house cleaner for a couple sessions so we leave the house, aka Senor Dean’s casa, to let them get on with it.  Grandma S has been keeping the house in-between times.  Senor Dean is chalking up another restaurant visit, four so far.  The Village Inn is such a delightful little diner, the staff is so pleasant, the food is good and the décor is light, colorful and fun.  And it’s free pie day on Dean’s 7 week milestone.  We are discovering all the ways restaurants accommodate baby carriers.  We have seen very inventive contraptions and today the carrier sits perfecting in the space between the table and the back of the booth.  Dean is literally sitting at the table with us.  LOL. And as his practice has been, he sleeps deeply while we get on with our meals, all the surrounding noise is not a factor. Mama is not convinced that Grandma’s practice of putting Dean’s head in a blanket or hoodie ‘cave’ contributes to his deep sleep, but it seems to work. We read our books and exercise the legs.  He grips Grandma’s fingers and with very little help and pulls himself to a sitting position holding his head in place!  Ta Da!  His smiles are more frequent and he is mouthing ‘words’ and ‘answers’ when we speak to him.  He doesn’t seem to care if we are using Spanish words or gibberish, he seems to delight in it all.  Back for dinner and a little TV.  Starting preparations for Minde’s arrival.  Night.