Andrew In the Rockies: Haikus about Bears

Latin: Grizzly Bear

Ursus Arctos Horrib’lis

Does that frighten you?

Ursus Arctos Horribilis

I find it rare that forks appear in the road; however, they tend to be created. When one up and moves across the country, it's not a gentle experience. It's not a fork in the road, at least not for me. More like a fractal. Or perhaps more appropriately it's similar to the Laramide Orogeny that built the Rocky Mountains for which Colorado is so famous (I am currently reading Roadside Geology of Colorado).

Complements of Dr. Wang

You prepared for Bears?

Hope you are carr’ing bear spray.

They are just waking up.

Laramide Orogeny built the Rocky Mountains

One of my many forks through this adventure has been writing. I am attempting to maintain several projects (like this blog) documenting the chasm in my life, but there are only so many juicy stories to share with y'all. So I asked my family and got suggestions from my three favorite red heads. Olivia quickly responded with a bear haiku assignment. Aimee was next assigning her students' current project: Poe style short stories. Then Cynthia crushed it with one of her favorite projects from her days of teaching a fourth grade writing workshop: a persuasive essay on travel.

Hemingway writing (I took this photo)

Hey Bear! Hey Black Bear!

Do you have any cubbies?

Don’t be mad at me.

A selfie at Loveland Pass. Enjoying the Rockies with a chair lift

The following was created after writing a few haikus. I was avoiding trying to write an entire short story, too creative, and an essay, too learned, so I wrote a short story like Poe, but about bears in haiku. *Note to the reader, I like Poe's darker stories, and thus, the following is quite grim:

Hiking with Bears

I was walking through

The dark forest seemed to be

Eyes watching over

A can of bear spray.

They say not to run away.

My brain disagrees.

Just a few more steps,

Then I’ll be in the meadows.

Sun will clear my fear.

Eyes slow to adjust.

Bright, wide-open sky and one

Boulder sized shadow.

But not a boulder,

Huge horrible Grizzly Bear

Staring back at me.

Grizzly Bears run fast.

Much faster than I can run.

And they have big teeth.

This will be my death:

Mister Horribilis’ meal.

I’ll sleep with the trees.

The reason for this post is ideas. While I have tremendous support from my family and friends, I wanted to reach out and ask for ideas on writing. I want everyone's opinion and assignment. I'll try my best to write, edit, and publish each, but I make no promises. There are rules (see below). But I would like to ask your support to think of a writing project and assign it to me. I'm open to anything: an essay, poetry, comedy, news or research article, photo story, fiction or whatever your heart desires. There's no rush, but if you know of any creative topics or think of anything over the next few weeks, please feel free to leave me a comment or message and I'll do my best. Be creative, remember structure helps, and let me know!