Wow, what great pics of the bears ... endless creativity! I was going to pick a favorite, then after each next pic, I kept getting a new favorite :-) Luna, the beasties are so fun, Bob looks "so fun" too LOL. Kirk and Carol ... how proud you must be of those great kids! Oreosmom too! The service man or woman, and their family sacrifice a lot. Thank God Tyler made it through those two tours in Iraq!!! He'll probably enjoy his duty in Italy. Hubby was in Sicily after Vietnam, seemed to be a good place for them to sort of "decompress" before coming back to the States. Tyler is so handsome, makes us so proud of our military wherever they go! The pic of he and Olivia is heatwarming! Gosh ... I just love all the pics here ~tenderlee

sorry, i thought you would have followed all that,shall please explain. bromeliads grow only in lower north america as mentioned(thats where florida is), central america,south america & i mentioned africa to let you know one brom grows there as mentioned. NO broms grow in the wild naturally anywhere else in the world unless escaped from someones collection.a listing that i have indicates 15 tillandsias from the u.s.a, also guzmania monostachia, hectia texensis should we go on. read before you ridicule as i could help your forum or forget you. someone mentioned bears & dogs eating broms, oh, i did read in this particular 'bears eating broms forum'," my dog drank from my neo. orange glow", hence the orange bowls suggestion,just trying to be helpful for bromaloonie. blue heeler you obviously didn't ask too many questions before you answered. if i bother to follow this forum i shall "please explain" as simple as possible, i was told this forum was for people asking for help & i was told i could help, but i'm not so sure now, thank you blue heeler. a simple question as to which other broms grow in lower nth america other than till. usneoides would have been more constructive for your forum, which is what i thought the forum was all about.

Many years ago, I and my brother, and a large friend, took a trip down East in my Model A Ford Roadster, from Pittsburgh, Pa. area. We camped along side the roads, wherever we could find a place away from the hiway. Only travelled during the day. One night, we camped on top of a mountain, on a nice grassy plot, far from traffic. Crawled into our sleeping bags, and drifted off to sleep. Along about midnight, my large friend woke me up and whispered: "Jim-Jim-wake up! I hear a bear!" It was pitch black dark, i listened-didn't hear anything, but my friend insisted he heard a bear! This went on for 15 minutes or so. Then my friend grabbed my brother, then me, stuffed us into the car, threw our blankets in with us--jumped into the drivers seat, started the car----and there stood a very BIG bear!! WOOOFF! Didn't take long to get out of there, and go find a motel for the rest of the night!

Thanks for all of your kind comments! You're the BEST! Slinkey, here's a picture of Bart in the winter...coming out of hibernation during one of our 2 recent record winter seasons. Poor Bart! I usually dress him up for Christmas (with antlers) and the New Year (with a party hat)! Not those years! LOL Our family refers to Bart as if he is alive! Our 3 year old son loves him as much as our 23 year old son! Bear Hugs! Kirk