Last night I had a meeting in town and someone asked me if I thought the bears have all gone into their torpor stage (not exactly hibernation) for the winter because she was thinking of unloading her groceries in the morning when it was light out. We decided it's not a sure thing, so better safe than sorry because bears can smell food for miles, and will wreck the inside of a vehicle.

When I got to my house after that, it was dark, and lo and behold, a bear (my bear/the bear) was on the middle part of my driveway, just standing there. I had the bright headlights on it, but that didn't faze it, so I sat and watched. After standing there looking around, he/she sat down for a little bit, and then astonishingly laid down in the road. I slowly drove forward and it got up and lumbered off the road.

It's rare to get a good look at a bear (from the safety of the car) because they usually take off when they see people. This one had a white patch on its chest, and standing on four feet it was as tall as my wheeled trash bin.

Something they do during the winter is wake up a little bit and leave their den to walk around, but they aren't very active. I think this explains why it acted so dazed and groggy. Now I wonder where the den is.

Yes, should have had the camera with me.