SPRING IN ECHO BAY

Pink salmon berry blossoms stand guard over a napping black bear. How quickly these freshly risen estuary greens become this bear's bed and breakfast.

Sun rays on silky black fur is a better blanket than any woven; the winter is gone for now. The latter half of a winter makes faith in a beast's heart, and that faith for the next season's coming is rewarded by the creations of sun and April rain. The land explodes into a feast of blossoms and greens, while gratitude extinguishes winter's scarcity from memory almost entirely, for the time being.

The seasons tell us how to live, and we keep pace.

Last autumn, salmon were so scarce I wasn't sure if we would see this black bear again after they went away to sleep. Sharing a bay with bears can be tricky to navigate, but moments like this, catching this one sprawled out in the shady estuary, surely make it worthwhile.