Linda Strever
POETRY . FICTION . NONFICTION
  • Home
  • About
  • Why I Write
  • Poems
  • Books
    • My Life in Cars
    • Don't Look Away
    • Against My Dreams
    • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Blog

Girl and Bear

9/22/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Uncle Ollie and Aunt Ellie had a farm. Ollie was my uncle, not by biology, but by commitment. Ollie's parents took in my father's whole family following my paternal grandmother's death in 1922, when my father was only five. Combining families allowed my grandfather to continue working. So my father and Ollie grew up as brothers on the two-family farm.

When I was a girl, Uncle Ollie and Aunt Ellie bought 150 acres and a herd of holsteins, and my family spent countless weekends and summer holidays there. During one summer visit, Ollie's brother Herbie stopped by. Herbie was an avid hunter, and he brought with him the spoils from his latest hunt, including the bear suit in this photograph.

My father, Uncle Ollie and Herbie concocted a practical joke. They recruited me. My job was to run out screaming each time a car approached, with Herbie in the bear suit lumbering behind. Ellie and Ollie's farm was on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, so the number of passing cars was minuscule, and they crept along to keep down the dust. Still, I'm sure my mother and Aunt Ellie cringed each time I went running into the road with the bear in pursuit. 

Even with the low volume of traffic, we managed to stop three or four cars before Herbie nearly passed out from the heat. I never thought about where that bear suit came from. I was too taken with getting real bear hugs and experiencing the peak of my acting career.  
 

1 Comment
Lee
9/27/2013 07:54:13 am

This is hilarious but on reflection, so glad none of the passer-bys thought to shoot at the Bear.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    My poetry, fiction
    and nonfiction give voice to the capacity
    for resilience and transformation.

    Archives

    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Linda Strever
Olympia, WA
linda@lindastrever.com

Proudly powered by Weebly
Content © Linda Strever | Design by Debi Bodett