The Sacrament of the Wilds

We no longer get the numbers of wild visitors we used to in the yard. When it was just Atticus, it was evident he drew them in. Bear, fox, moose, chipmunks, woodpeckers, and raccoons came and sat with us. The bears stole my heart, especially Butkus, State of Maine, the Jackson 5 (a mother and 4 cubs), Sweetness, and, of course, Aragorn.

There was an influx when Will came to live with us, with between 9 and 12 individual bears in those years. It slowed after the day we said goodbye to Will in the meadow on Iron Mountain.

Atticus was known as the Little Buddha. On the left, Butkus was the first bear to visit us.

We'd still see Aragorn, though. He'd nap on our little second-story porch, come up to sniff the flowers, watch Atticus and me down by the river, and sit for an hour or more just feet away in the yard.

But when Atticus died, even Aragorn stopped coming around, save for a single visit the following year on the night of my birthday. He slept on our little porch, his eye to the glass,…