Saturday Afternoon Chat: I finally saw a black bear — right on my back porch!

/ Lisa R. Howeler

This past week was interesting if only for one thing that happened to me — something I knew would happen one day, but luckily it wasn’t as dramatic as I worried it would be.

I don’t have any photos, but it finally happened — I went out to my back door to get my cats in, and there was a black bear on the back porch. A black bear. Yes.  Maybe three feet away from me but luckily there was a glass door between us.
 
I thought I was seeing a reflection on my door or just a shadow, and then the shadow moved! It hopped off the porch and took off across the yard while my cat watched from the other side of the yard, apparently amused by how I gasped, slammed the door shut and locked it (because the bear was clearly going to open it again) and then tried to get Little Miss to come see it by gasping. “Bear. Bear. Little Miss. See. Come.”

It was gone before she got there, sadly.

The Husband and The Boy were both upstairs so I couldn’t call for them.

(I want to say that the bear was as big as the one on the left, but it was actually probably more like the one on the right.)

We are now investing in a ring camera so I can get a better look before any of us step out there from now on.

I did a search on Facebook in a group that focuses on bear sightings in our area to see if anyone had seen our bear and learned that bear sightings are up. One reason they are up is because the state game commission has changed the weigh-in locations for bears when they are hunted. This means hunters aren’t as interested in hunting bears. They have to drive them too far to weigh them. Since the bears aren’t being as hunted as much, there is more of them. More of them means more of them are wandering into backyards and small towns.

Hopefully, we can keep ourselves and the bears safe. In most cases bears leave as soon as they see a person and we’re lucky that black bears aren’t like their grizzly bear cousins who sometimes do attack people (but probably rarely).

This week we lost three celebrities. I’m not a huge celebrity follower but these three were connected to my childhood. When the second one passed away I told my son there would be a third and on Thursday there was.

First,  we lost Malcom-Jamal Warner who used to be on The Cosby Show. He sadly died in a drowning while on vacation and his 8-year-old daughter witnessed it. That made me flat out cry. That poor child. I can’t imagine the trauma she experienced and will experience from here on out. My heart goes out to her and his family.

Credit PEOPLE Magazine.

I have positive memories of Malcom on The Cosby Show. I know a lot of people today want to forget anything that Bill Cosby was involved with because of what he was convicted of but I can’t toss the baby out with the bathwater on that one. That show was part of my formative years and helped shape a view of black people for me that fought against the ideas that many TV shows and books focused on at the time that said that black people were only “former slaves” and “lived in poor neighborhoods” or were “members of gangs.”


The Cosby Show starred (clockwise from top left) Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theodore “Theo” Huxtable, Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable, Phylicia Rashad as Clair Huxtable, Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy Huxtable, and Bill Cosby as Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” Huxtable. (Credit AP)

 I didn’t even know about these stereotypes until I was much older because my parents never spoke about other races based on stereotypes, and because I watched shows like The Cosby Show. Bill was a doctor and Claire was a lawyer and they lived in a very nice house in the city and their kids were smart, pretty, and fun. That’s all I know about black families before my teen years, when others I met tried to suggest black people were inferior. I knew they weren’t because my parents taught me they weren’t and because I’d seen shows like The Cosby Show. They weren’t any different than me other than the color of their skin and the fact the Huxtables were rich and I wasn’t. I sometimes got a bit jealous of all they had but one thing I had that they had was a loving family.

I absolutely loved that about the show. There was so much love in that family. Unconditional love too.

I know Malcom was an actor but to me, he was part of my family, in some ways, back in the 1980s. It was so hard to hear of his passing, even though I hadn’t kept up with him a lot over the years. He seemed so sweet and nice when I saw interviews with him. It must have been so hard for him and the other actors to lose parts of their past because of what Bill Cosby did. The show was taken off the air and it was as if it was blacklisted in a way because of one man’s actions. Plus, finding out much of your childhood was a lie because the man you worked with was living a double life has to be very traumatic too.

In 2023, he told People magazine, “”Regardless of how some people may feel about the show now, I’m still proud of the legacy and having been a part of such an iconic show that had such a profound impact on — first and foremost, Black culture — but also American culture.”

The second celebrity death was Ozzy Osbourne. I’ve never been a huge Black Sabbath or Ozzy fan, persay, but I did watch The Osbournes off and on when I was younger. Despite all his drug issues and his effort to be “the prince of darkness”, Ozzy was a softy. He cared about people. He loved his family. My heart breaks that he was never able to come to know God and his love for him, as far as I know. There was a lot of trusting in self for him and his family, and that has to be a very hard way to live life. Only God knows his heart, though.

I won’t lie that I cried some looking back on videos of him and his family. I wish they all could have had more time with him.

Thursday afternoon my husband texted me to let me know that the wrestler Hulk Hogan had died. My husband has a lot more of a connection to Hulk Hogan than I do. He grew up watching him when he was a kid. I grew up seeing his toys and gear and even a match or two, but I really didn’t know much about him. I was playing with Barbie and My Little Ponies.

My husband sent me a few matches from his past to watch on YouTube last night to honor him, so I will be doing that today.

He seems like a complex person with faults, but one who a lot of people also cared about despite those faults.

The rest of my week was fairly mundane. Today I am supposed to go to my parents to take Little Miss swimming, and tomorrow we are going clothes shopping for the kids. They truly need new clothes, especially Little Miss who is growing so fast.

Next week we will be starting school a little more, easing into it, but otherwise it is another fairly mundane week planned.

How was your week last week?

This week’s encouraging verse:

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion; May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice. May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose. We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.”

Psalm 20: 1-5

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29 thoughts on “Saturday Afternoon Chat: I finally saw a black bear — right on my back porch!”

  1. My goodness! A bear on the porch! Over here there are no bears, although I was reading a book about strange deaths in Tudor times and a woman was dragged from her bed and killed by a bear. He had escaped- they were kept for bear baiting.

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  2. Oh my goodness! A Black Bear! Exciting and scary! I came inches away from a Bobcat at our AZ home and that was scary but nothing like a black bear! Wow!

    I hear in the fall they start to slow down and begin to find an area to hibernate.

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  4. That must have been such a shocker to see a bear on your porch. I saw a bear one time while driving to church. It was about 5 miles from my house. I’ve also seen bobcats. Yes, all the deaths this week were sad, especially Malcolms. I didn’t know his eight year old daughter saw the whole things. That makes it even so much worse.

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  6. Oh my , a bear on your porch. How scary. I always check the immediate area before I take my dog out to potty ever since I saw a coyote on the street. That was enough for me to just take her out by the door now. It was so sad to hear about the deaths. The Cosby Show was my favorite and reruns for years to come. I was an Ozzy fan way back in the day.

    Visiting today from Joanne’s.

    xo

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  7. OMG. That bear is massive~ I would be freaking out!! And I didn’t realise about Malcom-Jamal Warner, that’s awful. And yes, despite Cosby, the show was the first time we had a well to do, educated black family, where the issues were normal teen issues – boyfriends, grades, learning to drive etc. As for Ozzie, it was a shock, even tho it really shouldn’t have been. #TalkaboutitTuesday

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  8. A bear! My goodness!! Yes, you need a Ring doorbell!

    That’s interesting, what you say about Malcolm. I saw the show, too, in my monocultural world of the Weald, and I see what you’re saying about giving us a view of Black middle-class people.

    Ozzy was of course a son of my city, so there is a LOT going on here. I did a little pilgrimage on Saturday to three places he’s honoured: the mechanical bull from the Commonwealth Games opening and closing ceremonies, which was named Ozzy by popular request – he’s in the railway station and has a small line of flowers by him; the Sabbath Mural, which is a wonderful work by an artist called Mr Murals, who I got to MEET and when I said he was doing Birmingham proud, he gave me a little hug; the Black Sabbath Bench and Bridge, which is covered in flowers and messages, a kind and gentle place where everyone gives each other room. Very moving. Ozzy had a reflex of saying “God bless you” to people so it wouldn’t surprise me if he had some religion deep inside.

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    • That is so cool about Mr. Mural! I just started following him on Instagram about a month ago when I saw a reel of him painting Ozzy and then Sharon came down to see it. I think Ozzy signed it too. I didn’t even think about Ozzy being from being there. I forgot!

      And yeah, I think it’s a ring camera. It’s some kind of camera we can look at through our phone before we go out. Maybe a knock off brand but something I can look at and say “Okay, there is no bear…I can safely let the dog out.” Watch the bear never show up again after this.

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        • That will be so cool. I am so glad they are doing that. That guy must be .. is the term…chuffed? I probably just used the wrong term but, seriously, that is cool. that mural and his others are amazing.

          I am watching the replay of the processional in Birmingham now. I also saw a clip of Sharon and the kids crying and it made me cry. He will be so missed. I will miss him and I didn’t even know him personally. He was always just so funny. You never knew what he was going to say and it feels a bit like a light has gone out. I’m glad we have past interviews, shows, etc. we can watch though.

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  9. I thought the bobcat hanging out in my yard/walking comfortably under my carport was wild – but a bear on the back porch!!! I am a teeny bit jealous, although with chickens now living in my backyard, a bear may not be the best of visitors …

    I was also a huge fan of the Cosby show growing up, and Cosby was actually the commencement speaker when I graduated university – he called me a cheater, because I received 2 Bachelor degrees, lol … definitely complicated memories now in light of other things. But the show is still a great example of how television should work.

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    • That is a very funny Bill Cosby story!! lol!

      We probably have plenty of animals out there at night we never see. I know we’ve had foxes, skunks, and possums. I’ve seen the skunk and possum and a quick glance of the fox.

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  10. While I loved seeing the bears in Smokey Mountain national park I have zero desire to see on our back deck! Eek! I know there has been a bear spotted near our lake/house many times but I’ve never seen it.

    I was so sad to read about Malcolm’s death; I remember The Cosby Show very fondly too and have seen him in many more recent things too. I didn’t know who Ozzy Osborne was until my husband and I began watching The Osbornes back in the day; I really enjoyed that show even if I wasn’t usually all that sure what he was saying.

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  11. Pingback: Sunday Bookends: Bear on my porch and watching old shows | Boondock Ramblings

  13. Wow!!! A black bear on your porch? And, I get upset about bunnies! Granted, your bear doesn’t eat your plants, but still! I think you’re smart to get a Ring doorbell to check if it’s all clear. Is this a season when they’re out and about more?

    Ozzy was a Christian and often prayed before he went on stage. I think he got a bit of a bad rap after he bit the head off that bat. His story always was he thought it was rubber! Did you ever watch the series with him and Jack? They traveled all over the states in an RV. It was really good. I never watched the other show, though. I don’t think we had cable then. But, this one showed his human side…thank goodness for subtitles, though.

    I couldn’t believe it when I heard about Malcolm Jamal Warner, either. I loved his character on the Cosby Show. I didn’t see him in any other shows. But, like you, that show and those characters were a part of my past. I didn’t know that about his daughter. How devastating!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    • Spring and Summer is when they are the most active, yes. They are less so in late fall when they are getting ready to hibernate.

      I had heard that about Ozzy and the prayer and the bat story too!

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