To See What I Could See

"Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?"

When  I was a kid, I thought Fuzzy Wuzzy was also the bear who went over the mountain, as in...

"The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see. But all that he could see was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain was all that he could see."

Turns out they were most likely different bears. Though, they could have been related.

Still, this ditty stuck with me for more than 50 years. When my son was young and he’d ask, "Where are we going, Dad?"  I’d reply, "To see what we can see." And even today, when Susan and I are out for a weekend amble, the goal is “to see what we can see.” Isn’t that the promise of any adventure, large or small.

Then there are the more practical applications of the bear in our lives, like the saying:  "Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you."

My brother had his own version of this. During the summer I worked for him more than forty years ago, he’d make me up in the predawn hours with this rallying cry: 

"Time to get the bear, Mikey." 

Nothing like the promise of an early morning bear hunt to get you up and moving. Let’s put it this way, it beats the bear getting to me.

To this day,  I keep a small sign on the inside of my office door frame and read it when I'm off to a meeting or preparing to take on a difficult assignment. It states, simply:
"Time to get the bear."

I hope you continue to "bear up" during these difficult days with grace, good humor, and a smile. I hope when you see what you can see, it is remarkable. And I hope you always get the bear.

Photo by Thomas Bonometti on Unsplash