Ted

[Don Ellis]

Still life with story...

My three-day project in Singapore was over. With a couple of hours to spare before flying out, I was walking through an arcade crowded with hawker carts. One of them was selling teddy bears -- of which we own 15 -- so I took a look.

Among the cheap, tacky bears was this one -- US$250 worth of stripey hide and leather paws. I wasn't carrying that much cash but the bear and the saleslady were both nice, so I told her that I was going to walk over to that cash machine by the ice cream parlor, insert my supposedly international cash card, and if it gave me money, I would trade her.

Naturally, it did. So here he is -- a one-of-a-kind British animal handmade by Penny Chalmers (in case you're a bear aficionado).

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/teddybear2.jpg

Cheers,

Don

Tripod
Natural light against black velvet
Shutter speed: 0.8 sec
Aperture: 4.5
Exposure compensation: -1/3

[pigasus]

Hi Don,

Great bear, great picture, great story! I can see why you had to have him. Seeing him on my monitor this morning is a wonderful way to start the day.

Thanks for bringing us Ted.

[Don Ellis]

Hi Sally,

But would you have liked him as much if you didn't know he was a Brit? :)

Glad you liked all three -- thank you.

Don

[pigasus]

Don Ellis wrote:
Hi Sally,

But would you have liked him as much if you didn't know he was a Brit? :)


Probably, Don. Cause I'm a transplanted Yank. Moved to England for the weather. :D

[Leighow]

DON

Well world lines do collide.

You see, yesterday (Saturday, 6 am, EST), I was paddling Lac Sam where the shoreline rises 400 feet to meet the morning sky. So steep that the occasional rock side occurs; toppling and dragging 75 foot trees down into the water’s edge. So I was startled a bit when the adjacent brush started to crackle and pop sending hand-sized stones plopping into the water. No need to worry. It was Ted. Ted was the first 150 pound black bear that I have seen within Lac Sam’s catch basin in 27 years – and he was starring at me through a thick growth of cedar.

Don, Ted and I never got to hug each other. You see, our black bears are excellent swimmers. So, risking cardiac failure, I paddled contentiously homeward reciting the famous (hopefully Canadian) poem about polar bears (a close cousin to the black bear I presume):

The Polar Bear sleeps in his little bear skin,
And sleeps very well I am told
Last night I slept in my little bear skin
And I got a heck of a cold.

See Yah

HOWIE (Ottawa, Canada)