Bear Necessities

   

     Heading back from Ripley, I pull off for gas, while making a quick call home to check on my critters. "Oh dear Lord..." I'm halfway laughing "Looks like someone's been to Gatlinburg!"
     I proceed to describe the site at the pump opposite mine. On the back of the truck are a bunch of bears carved out of tree trunks...All shapes...All sizes...A variety of colors. Thinking "You're so Tennessee if..." I wonder if I can sneak a text pic back to my friend just to lend color to his day, but that's not gonna work because the owner of said art is standing next to his truck.
     Not to be rude, I decide I'll just ask if he minds a picture...After all, he can only say no.
     "Nice bears!" I holler to my next pump neighbor. "Mind if I take a picture?"
     "Sure!" he offers in friendly, neighborly way..."My wife and I make 'em. We carve 'em with a chainsaw."
     Upon closer inspection, this is no laughing matter. I'm actually very impressed. Not sure how one suddenly discovers they have a knack for this sort of thing, but there's talent in them-there-bears...My light-hearted jesting turns to serious questioning...
     "Are you kidding me? Seriously? You made those?" I move in to inspect. Some are sitting. Some are standing. There's a horse in the mix as well. By this time his wife has saddled up beside him.
     "Yeah" he offers. "Kinda surprised us too. Can't take credit...God's the talent...Sold everything we had and now just travel around selling bears."
     "We're on our way to the Grand Canyon..." she chimes in. "When we need more money, we just stop and carve a few more..."
     I was totally blown away. What started as a quippy shot to amuse a friend now has me reassessing life on the whole. If there was a joke to be had, that joke was on me.
    I drove away thinking "What a life!" I don't know an artist among us who doesn't aspire to live this way. The love of your life, a truck and two chainsaws. The rest is just one big open highway... Not a care in the world...Nothing but creating, adventures and life!...Honestly...what more is there?
     To my tree-carvin' bear-lovin' friends, God bless you. And thank you for my two-minute reality check. May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back. I'll never see another bear that I don't think of you!