We pulled into the Comfort Inn parking lot in Pittsfield, MA, at 6pm today and were greeted by a black bear on the dumpster. I didn't think fast enough to get my camera out before he hustled away, so this is a picture from the Berkshire Museum website. But that's just what he/she looked like, only less stuffed. When James went in to register, he told the front desk clerk, "Hey, there's a bear on your dumpster," and the clerk, totally nonplussed, said, "Oh yeah, he comes down every now and then. We put up barbed wire, but he doesn't care." Indeed, we watched the bear shove the barbed wire aside and lumber off undeterred.

When our plane first touched down in Tucson in February 1997, a coyote loped across the tarmac. We felt it was a blessing, a greeting from a native inhabitant. I was feeling a little panicky today about starting our new life in Pittsfield--until Mother Nature sent her greetings again just like she did in Tucson, this time in the form of a native Berkshire black bear. It also answered my question as to whether there are bears in the Berkshires--a nighttime bear phobia put a damper on many a camping trip for me in Arizona, and I was hoping the Berkshires would be bear-free. Dagnabit.