By Mary Alice Murphy

Well, it wasn't actually midnight, but I like alliteration.

This time of year, with the windows open at night to let in cooler air, I often hear deer clomping around on the gravel around our fruit trees.

But last night, around 1:30 a.m., I heard something different. Not the usual hooves, but more like the scritch of toenails.

Then I heard more weird sounds, this time coming from the plum tree.

So, in my jammies, I turned on the outside light and went out to chase off whatever was making noises outside, thinking maybe it was a fox.

Just as I opened the door, a whole section of the plum tree started shaking violently. I yelled: "Git outta here."

The tree kept shaking and then something large plopped out and promptly disappeared over the short wall between us and the leach field.

All I saw was a very large butt, which looked suspiciously like a bear butt.

I know bears climb trees, and I know we have bears around here sometimes, because I've seen their scat, usually out in the middle of the driveway or on the road. But I don't see them, just their leavings.

I, of course, "bearly" saw this one, but I saw enough to recognize the back end of a bear, and not a small one at that. I guess the smell of the ripening plums was too much to resist.

So now I have bears (and lots of ravens, by the way) eating the plums. I did get some picked and need to get them cooked up for jelly and jam.

The peaches are still green, but I'm keeping an eye on them, hoping the foxes don't get them like they did last year. I do want some nice peach jam for breakfast toast this year.

Ah, the challenges and joys of living out of town where the deer and the "bearalope" play. We also saw a couple of elk wander by one evening several years ago. And I love the coyote choruses at night. Cougars have been spotted at our neighbor's house and javelinas, quite a few years back, cleaned up all the dropped peaches.

We continue to share, although I cover our garden in pots every night to prevent critters chomping on the basil, geraniums, plumeria, hibiscus, marigolds and bougainvillea. Most of these move inside in the winter.

May your musings bring you beauty!