Touching Bear

I didn't set out on purpose to meet the bear. Some people do. I have known people who have touched bears on their first trip to the mountains. Scratched ears. Nuzzled the wet, black nose. To hear them tell it, the incident might have been as calculated as a snapshot with a fake floral backdrop. Almost all of them, especially the women, have learned to lower the pitch of their voices during the narrative and to play on the impatience of their audience, not to mention those hard of hearing.