Saving Bears

Change of the seasons is just beginning.

I'm drawn to the mysteries of the forest, especially at this time of the year. The air is kinder and cooler. The sweet scent of decay rises as leaves begin to die. The light is softer, and we tend to laze about in golden hues at the beginning and end of each day. For as long poets have put pen to parchment, spring has been equated as the season for love. But most of my love affairs have taken place in the autumn.

Here in Jackson, autumn has taken hold. The change in the foliage is just beginning, but compared to mid-June, the contrast is striking.

Everything about the season whispers in tones of magic and wonder. So it makes sense that whenever we enter a woodland realm, I can feel the enchantment all the more. I understand I am an outsider who comes from the civilized world but feels more at home with the wild things. Not a day passes when we are walking among trees that I fail to be surprised by something, no matter how small.

It's one of t…