Waltzing with Bears

Somewhere in Colorado. Sunday, October 31, 2010.

Dear Susanna,

Presto and I have arrived in Colorado. I’m glad he is with me; he is an excellent navigator.

It’s amazing what a pull the mountains have. They constantly attract my attention, as if they had some magnetic force that compels my head to turn that direction.

Presto and I only wish you and the rest of our family were with us. I hope your fever is going down.

Love,
DaddyO

—–

Denver. November 2, 2010, 8:36 a.m.

Dear Susanna,

This big blue bear came down from the mountains and wanted to come in to attend the conference. Sadly, there wasn’t any room for him, even though he says he’s really interested in geology. I spoke with him over a cup of coffee, and he wanted me to say “good morning, friend” to you from him. We both hope you get to feeling better soon!

Love,
DaddyO

PS: His name is Blue.

—–

Denver. November 2, 2010, 2:17 p.m.

Dear Susanna,

It’s kind of sad, but Blue is still waiting to be let inside.

Blue is really tall! Look how much taller he is than the trees and cars. I wish Presto could meet him — I think they would really get along well.

Hope you are feeling better.

PEACE
DaddyO

—–

Black Mesa, Oklahoma. Wednesday, November 3, 7:10 p.m.

Dear Susanna,

Your Dad and I just arrived at the Black Mesa Bed & Breakfast. I’m sure you remember the front porch! It’s a beautiful view at sunset, so while he’s unloading I decided I’d help out by sitting on the porch and sending out this upate so that you’d know we got here safely.

While I’m at it, I want to tell you more about Blue. Your Dad doesn’t know this yet (he’s been too busy to ask me very many questions), but I got to talk with Blue myself and I think you might be interested in what he told me. See, late at night, when almost everyone is asleep, Blue leaves the convention center and goes back to his home in a canyon west of Denver. It’s near Douglas Mountain where the snows fall, not far from where your Dad and I went a few nights ago:

Our hotel was on the west side of Denver, as it happened (I think your Dad wanted to be as close to the mountains as he could), and so when your Dad was asleep (he’s a very sound sleeper), I flew outside for a “constitutional.” Who should I catch striding by not a block away but this giant blue bear! (I already knew his name and who he was because your Dad did find the time to tell me that.) So I flew over to greet him and he invited me to visit him in his canyon home. We immediately departed together and he gave me an impromptu tour of most of the mountains and canyons west of Denver (i didn’t tell your Dad about this because he would be SO jealous, and because there are so many of them that only a giant bear or a flying dragon could actually see them all in just a few hours).

Then he showed me the way to his home where I met some of the most interesting “people.” Incidentally, he serves wonderful coffee there–he goes to the convention center during the daytime not for the coffee so much (because his is far better than what humans drink) but for the company.

But at night he’s not lonely, and here’s the reason why (but this is a secret): all the dinosaur bones in these parts are really from dragons! (Their wings don’t fossilize well and so far haven’t yet been discovered by humans.) All their descendants (whom Blue calls dragonosaurs just to make them laugh) come out at night and usually hang out at Blue’s home!

You should see it sometime: there are stegodragons, apatodragons, and many others — a vast variety, large and small, old and young, walkers and fliers and swimmers and even tunnelers that bore through the rocks and make homes for them all underground. The Rocky Mountains are made of the homes of dragonosaurs and giant bears, and every canyon is somebody’s front porch.

So the homes of giant bears are huge, which is a very good thing, for when they get together with friends they always want to dance. So there I was in a shimmering underground hall, dancing with dragonosaurs and waltzing with bears, and your Dad snoring in his dreams all the while back at his hotel.

So I’m really glad that I got to come along on this trip and that it happened in November instead of January, because even giant bears have to hibernate after Christmas to make up for how little sleep they get the rest of the year.

Wish you were here. It’s fun to travel with your Dad, but not as much fun as with you. Well, I need to send this off right away because here comes your Dad after setting up our things in the bunkhouse for the night — the same room you slept in when you were here.

Love
Presto

PS: Here’s a picture of me at the door to the bunkhouse: