our daily bears

In late August

north of the Arctic Circle on the Dempster Highway

a really serious dusk comes soon after midnight

but a hint of a daybreak a few hours later

is already dimmer than yesterday

we watch

and soon a grizzly family

a mother and her two spring cubs 

appears, out on its daily quest for food 

and whatever else bears need

like us, the family is using the road

so much more convenient than tripping on stumps, willow bushes and fallen logs

we think so, too,

and follow the bears for a bit

hanging back and trying not to crunch on the gravel too loudly

we look

and John says the smaller cub, now crossing the ditch and running into the tundra

has a damaged paw

(a wound? a congenital defect?)

and he is thinner

we think he may not make this winter 

which is coming long and white and cold

but who knows?

so we watch some more

and things happen

as they often do when bears travel in the back country

they stop when it is a good time to stop

they play

nibble on berries

cross a shiny pond 

and move again

while their autumn fur is growing thick 

just like that!

and follows no other commands

but that of the dimming light

©Yva Momatiuk