Bear Sighting
February 15, 2010
Hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day, yesterday. The bride and I went out on the town–a fairly unusual occurrence these days, as we like to eat at home, where we can control what we prepare, to keep our weight under control. But this time, we had a couple of gift
certificates from Christmas for a highly rated local prime steak and lobster restaurant, Del Frisco’s, reputed to be one of the best available. So, we decided to go and we went.
Everything was terrific: rich, but delicious. Drank only water and seltzer, as usual, but granted myself and my wife special dispensation for the entrees…and (dare I say it) dessert. And I did eat only half….
I love gift certificates as presents. First time I can remember in a long time that I paid only eight bucks for the entire night, including the tip for the car valet. Great inner beauty, right there. It always tastes better, somehow, when someone else is paying for it. Have you noticed that, too?
As it happens, the meal was great and we enjoyed it immensely. Wouldn’t want to do it too often, or I’d blow back up again. But an occasional indulgence is OK and good for the soul.
Between the great meal, a couple dozen red roses and a few gifts for my honey (and a few from her for me, as well) and it was a nice day all around.
On our way back, we noticed a big sign at the entrance to our gated community: “Bear Sighting.” That means, as you might expect, that one of the residents had seen a black bear (that’s the kind that are native to the area). That means that we all need to be careful not to leave garbage out doors, as that will draw them in.
Our home is located on a golf course, which is right next to a huge nature conservancy. We get regular visits from entire herds of deer, walking right through our front yards (incidentally eating all our shrubs and bushes, at a leisurly pace). Possums, raccoons, armadillos, squirrels, owls, hawks, eagles (and rarely, alligators and snakes) are the local fauna. After all, the woods is their home. We’re the invaders, if you think about it. Pretty cool, really. One of the best things about living here, in the Wekiva Springs basin.
But bears are potentially dangerous. Reminds me of my first close encounter with a big black bear. My wife used to put food out for any stray cats in the neighborhood (that didn’t already live with us). Then, one night, we heard a scratching, metallic sound. We pulled up the shades and there, sitting not three feet from us, on the front porch, separated from us only by a thin pane of glass, was a three hundred pound black bear.
He (or she…couldn’t tell which) was sitting there, like a little child, with this big metal cat food bowl held in both hands…errr…paws, licking for all he was worth with his long, pink tongue. I remember thinking his coat was beautiful and so shiny and that I could almost reach out and touch him. Of course, he could’ve reached out and touched me, too. And I have no illusions about how that would have gone.
Beautiful, yes. But very dangerous. And potentially deadly. So that was the end of feeding the outdoor critters. They’ll just have to make do without our contribution. Frustrates my wife to no end, as she gets a great deal of pleasure feeding and watching the animals.
Anyway, now I have to pay for the sins of the evening. After popping a couple of extra capsules of my ultra pure, enteric coated, pharmaceutical grade fish oil
http://www.favoriteformulas.com
which will help to balance my indulgence in red meat. It does this by acting to lower my blood triglyceride levels (one of the most reliable effects of the omega 3 fatty acids in fish oil) and lower my cholesterol (since I take all my fish oil caps with garlic–which you need to do, too, if you want it to lower cholesterol).
Then, I’ll go out to the garage, and do some specially modified Hindu Squats and some dumbbell quarter squats, again, specially modified, so that my incipient knee pain doesn’t try to make a comeback. These and other great knee pain exercises are detailed in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
It’s a sad truth of life: ain’t no such thing as a free lunch (or dinner, as in this case). Even if it’s virtually free, dollar-wise, there’s always a price to be paid, in one coin or another. Til next time, my friend, be well. Talk to you soon.
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,
Dr. Bill
“The Wellness Warrior” TM
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
Copyright, 2010 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
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