September 18th, 2005

Last night we had our first bear sighting, making for an exciting Saturday evening. Ricardo and I were watching a movie on TV, when we heard a noise just under the kitchen window. Moopy the cat had been pacing, not wanting to lie down on the sofa as he usually does, and sat at the front door miauing. We got up and looked out the window, but couldn't see anything initially as the darkness was quite pronounced.

After a while, as our eyes got used to the dark Ricardo spotted something moving. He got the flashlight and went out onto de front deck and illuminated A BEAR! Fortunately it wasn't too close, he'd moved onto one of the other houses and was checking out the garbage. When he realized he was in the spotlight, he moved back into the bushes. He wasn't huge, but we were glad he was far off anyways. Now we understood why we found a garbage bag ripped open, just down the hill, and why Moopy stands guard by the windows!

The weather is starting to get chilly, and after last night we'll make sure to keep our walks to a daytime affair....The leaves are starting to turn, mostly the birches and poplars and we will make sure to take some pictures when it gets colourful. The third type of tree is pine, very tall too.
Our daily life has settled into a routine, I go off to work (5 minute commute), come home for lunch, back to school and home again. Dinner and a walk, as nature is the entertainment part of the program, and can become exciting as experienced last night. We've had some sunny days, plenty more of the cloudy type though. Rain comes at least once a week, which is good to keep the sandy streets from getting too dusty.
For now, we are comfortable and rejoice every time Gloria (best daughter) sends us a box with goodies that aren't available here. It makes you appreciate everything so much more!