Bears in my trees!

Daisy woke us up around 5 this morning barking like crazy.  We looked out the bedroom window and even though it was still dark, we could see big black shapes moving around and climbing the trees by the creek (about 10 yards from our back deck).  They were so close we could hear them talking to each other... they made low whiny noises, kinda like Chewbacca.  They also went "ooh, ooh, ooh" sorta like monkeys when they climbed up or down the tree.

After shutting up the dog and watching their silhouettes a while, we finally got brave enough to go out onto the deck (with the flood lights on and the pistol in my pocket).  Wish we could've taken a picture of them at the time, but the camera was in the truck, and they were closer to it than we were!  I've attached a picture that i took this morning after it got daylight.  There were two cubs in the tree just left of the stump, and the mama was walking around on the ground behind the creek.  What we didn't know was there was a third cub in the pine tree (the big tree in the left of the picture), and when we heard it move we both about jumped out of our skin!  We didn't get a good look at the mom, but we could see the cubs really well with the flood lights.  They weren't in a huge hurry, but after a couple minutes with the lights on the mama bear went back into the woods and the cubs climbed down and followed her.  We probably watched them for 10-15 minutes total.  Who knows how long they would've stuck around if we had stayed inside.

We've been hearing about "A" bear in the woods behind campus... last week a professor who lives about a mile back behind campus told me about getting up close and personal with one right next to his house a couple weeks ago, and Monday morning another professor who knows our neighbors warned me that there had been "A" bear frequenting our neighbors' yard, so we sould avoid leaving out anything that might attract them (trash, dog food, bird feeders).  So we've been on the lookout for "A" bear, but we were very surprised to see FOUR bears!

... and then some...

Thursday, July 28 -- We finally have internet!  Kept unpacking and setting up the house.  Went exploring this evening -- hiked up Brasstown Bald, the highest peak in Georgia (~4800 feet).  The hike was really easy, only about half a mile and paved the whole way.  The view was nice at the top but really hazy so we couldn't see very far.

Friday, July 29 -- More unpacking.  My family is staying with us this weekend.  Mom and Steve arrived tonight.  Also, today the truck wouldn't start again, but bypassing the solenoid worked.  Did we misdiagnose it?

Saturday, July 30 -- I didn't wake up til 10am... this has become a trend the past few days.  Mom had woken up around daylight and had sat on the porch swing all morning.  EXCITING WILDLIFE ALERT!  She saw a fox cross our front yard and go into the woods.  Also, a box turtle (less exciting).  Dad arrived early afternoon, and we went exploring.  Ended up in Helen (again)... this time all we did was go to the bar.  Steve and I drank beers while everybody else ate pretzels (which are flown in fresh from Munich).  Got back home around dark.

Sunday, July 31 -- Everybody but Rachel was awake by 6am.  We sat on the porch waiting for wildlife but none came.  We re-diagnosed the truck, and decided that the loose shifter was actually the cause of the starting problem.  Here's how that works:  vehicles with automatic transmissions have a mechanism that keeps them from starting unless the vehicle is either in Park or Neutral.  Because the shifter was loose, this mechanism would be engaged even when the vehicle is in park.  By re-installing the bolt that had fallen out (which was a bitch to get to -- Steve wins the Most Flexible Mechanic award), we fixed the loose shifter and, it seems, fixed our starter problem.  We also fixed the passenger door (by lubricating the inner workings with WD-40 and replacing the inner handle which had broken) so now you don't need two people to open it.

Dad and I explored some of the woods above the house.  WILDLIFE ALERT:  I caught a ringneck snake.  They are the smallest snakes around... this one was about 4" long.  I only saw him b/c I was wearing sandals so I was checking the ground in front of me very carefully for poison ivy before I stepped anywhere.  Lucky find.

Tonight was the New Employees Picnic.  I hadn't had a haircut in a couple months, and I kept meaning to get one these past few days but I never got around to it, so I convinced mom to cut my hair out on the back deck.  She took forever, but did a good job, so now I look less like a traveller and more like an academic, I guess. 

I hate finding a new place to get a haircut.  When I was a kid the Wolfman used to cut it and he could do it in about 5 minutes.  It took me about 2 years to find a place in Cookeville that I liked (which is when, and why, I started letting it grow out), and about 4 years in Eugene.  You gotta worry about podunk barber shops that only wanna give you the high-and-tight, and salons with crazy hairdressers (like the lady in Eugene who insisted on giving me a pompadour or the other lady who chased sasquatches in her spare time), and cheap family places with beauty school drop-outs.  I hate finding a new place to get a haircut.

The folks left this afternoon, and Rachel and I went to the New Employees Picnic this evening.  It had been moved inside due to worries about thunderstorms (although the weather remained gorgeous).  Met other new faculty, administration, school president, etc.  Hob-nobbed until my face hurt from fake-smiling.  Food was good, though, and they served beer and wine, which surprised me.

Tomorrow will be my first day as a professsor, starting with a 3-day New Faculty Orientation retreat, then about a week of planning for classes, then go time.  With a new job, a new place, and lots of new people to get to know, I'm about to be way out of my comfort zone.  I'm starting to get nervous, and as I do, I feel like I'm forgetting my chemistry knowledge, which makes me more nervous.  I've gotta break this cycle quick before it gets out of hand.  And it is now 315 am, so I've got to get to sleep.  But at least I'm finished with this damn blog.  For now.