Valley Voice
November 2019
Tales from the Front Desk
19
Be Local & Eat Local! Locally roasted espresso and coffee drinks. Amazing sandwiches, soups & salads. Wonderful baked goodies!
The Bear By Aimee Kimmey
The story you are about to read is true... more or less. Sunday. 4:42 pm. Parking lot. The days were getting short, the nights were starting to freeze. It was very nearly time to snuggle in and sleep the winter away. Except the bear's stomach was still grumbling. He knew it was going to be a long time before he'd be able to get out and eat again, he needed just a little more food before nestling in. The best meals came from the human dumpsters. Sure, berries were delicious in the spring and summer, but humans made the most delectable trash. Burger wrappers, half eaten rotisserie chickens, unfinished bags of chips, jars with peanut butter slathered all over the insides... The drool pooled at the corners of his mouth just thinking about it. He stepped out into the smelly black trail the humans loved so much and ambled toward his favorite dumpster. Well, maybe third favorite behind the fish restaurant, and that place on the mountain that made such strange and wonderful concoctions. But the hotel dumpster was right up there. The humans routinely filled it with bags of greasy fast food, pizza slices, and sticky left-overs--there was always something good there! The moment his paws hit the blacktop, the metal beasts that lived there screeched at him like they always did when he crossed it. He passed them without a second glance, the dumpster was in sight. It was tucked around the edge of the hotel. He could smell the delights from here. He picked up the pace just a little.
All around, humans leapt from their metal beasts to rush toward him. He ignored them, keeping his eyes on the prize. Bright flashes of light from their devices filled his vision with dark spots. He shook his head, trying to clear them. He wanted to run toward the dumpster, but he couldn't spare the calories. Humans swirled around him, gawking. Hadn't they ever seen a bear before? He heard several of them gasp. An older male with a tiny, smashed-face dog on a string recoiled. The diminutive beast snarled bravely at him, every one of its little hairs standing on end. It still didn't make the little puff-ball threatening, the bear could have swallowed him whole in one bite... But, ug, that wouldn't be half as tasty as what was in the dumpster ahead of him. The man scooped up his little pet and backed away, as if the bear had any interest in them. By now people were rushing out of the hotel toward him, waving their devices, blocking his path to the dumpster. The sent of something greasy tickled his nose, his stomach rumbled. As he reached the other side of the street, the bear hesitated. The wall of humans between him and his dinner was growing. He didn't want to engage with them, bad things happened to bears that got into it with humans. But the dumpster was so close, and smelled so good... Emboldened by his hesitation, humans began closing in around him. Suddenly the bear was beginning to wonder if he'd made a really bad choice. He felt his own back hairs standing up. Behind the wall of people, the woman who belonged to the hotel stepped out of the building. The bear had seen her before, she sometimes put large white bags into the dumpster. It was never anything he wanted, but she seemed cool. She shouted something at the humans. They all looked at her for a moment. Then miraculously, the wall of humanity between him and the dumpster began to break up. He took a tentative step forward. People fell back. Behind him, humans crawled back into their metal beasts. Slowly rolling back to their lives and out of the bear's. He took another small step toward the dumpster, a few people still lingered in his way. The hotel woman shouted again, and they fell back. She was rapidly becoming the bear's favorite human. After a few more small steps toward dinner, the humans fell away entirely. The path between him and the dumpster was suddenly wide open. He wanted to hug the hotel woman. With renewed glee, the bear lumbered to the great metal food box. With the delicious smell of buried treasure filling his nostrils, the bear soon forgot about the few humans still watching him. It was dinner time!
198 East Lincoln Ave. Hayden, Colorado 970-276-4250 www.wildgoosegranary.com
879.5929 905 Weiss Drive - across HWY 40 from the Holiday Inn
Poetry
It's All Good By Joan Remy
Just tell the truth I see through pretense Even white lies can sting a bit Amazing we live so close With borders Keeping us far away Actually it works for me I only want to be around friends Kind and facetious Who look at you directly Tease endlessly Astound me with love and creativity
Real Freedom lies in wildness, not civilization.—Charles Lindbergh