It’s been quite some time since I’ve picked up my camera. Since the last time I touched my camera in late 2017, it has been a crazy ride for my family and me. In just a year we moved three different times. We moved out of our Pittsburgh home and back to my hometown, Mountain Top, PA. When we moved there we lived with my mother for less than a year, then moved with her into her new home, and then a few months later we ended up buying our very first house of our own. Now we are nestled in the woods, with our own five acres, and ready for the next crazy adventure. Along with moving, I have had to deal with my bipolar depression and anxiety. I fight with it every day and with that sometimes it is hard to simply pick up my camera and take a photo. I have tried pushing myself to get out and get back into my talent, but it just wasn’t that easy. I kept trying to break out of the dark circle, but it just kept going round and round. Finally, a little unexpected friend helped me jump out of that circle and finally pick up my camera.

Black bears are the most common type of bears in Northeastern PA. Even though this one was a young docile one, black bears can still be dangerous. I stayed a good distance from this bear with a zoom lens and even so he made a clicking noise with his mouth, which is a warning that they are stressed and feel threatened. I kept my distance to make sure he did not feel threatened enough to attack. I also understand that I am in his home, not the other way around. Although black bears are more active from dusk to dawn, this one came out midday searching for food. He wanted to get a taste of my bird feeder, but I stood between them, therefore he ended up bunkering down behind a tree on our hill and waited awhile to see if I would leave. Once he saw I wasn’t, he quietly left to search somewhere else.