Today is my 20th Bear Day.
Two decades ago I walked up that hill on Princess Mary Lake and thought my world was about to end. And like on most of the anniversaries since, I’m trying to take time to think about that experience and what it means for me. Unlike other Bear Days, though, the distance seems to have numbed the memories more this year. I’m not sure if that’s because I’ve reached some time threshold, or my mind is filled with too many other things—the daily worries and needs of family and home and work. In any case, I’ll be unplugging today to think about things, to consider what this year has been, what these two decades have been, and what the future might hold.
For me, for the tangible and known, I have a few things on the horizon: switching soon from summer work to office work, the edits of my forthcoming novel The Ice on the Lake finally wrapping up in anticipation of its publication in March of 2026, and so much more. The rest is less tangible though. I think about time and doings and opportunities and moments. As I thought through these things this morning, the challenge of commemorating a tough time in my life, and the complexities of everything, my 5 year old son came into the room and, for the first time, wished me a happy bear day. That’s when the tension I’d been carrying with these thoughts melted away, and I knew it was really much simpler than all that.
For some thoughts on this day, and my bear attack and bear safety in the Boundary Waters, take a listen to my recent podcast recording with Friends of the BWCA. https://www.friends-bwca.org/podcasts/podcast-bear-safety-in-the-boundary-waters/
Thanks for letting me share a bit of my story with you today.
