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Sheep Thrillz
39562 Hwy 226
Scio, Or 97374
503-394-2021
ir@sheepthrillz.com
Please note we are unable to take online orders directly at this time. Please call 503-394-2021 to place an order.
S'Morris and the Picnic
Bear Mountain is
a beautiful place, sitting at the end of a sleepy little farm valley. The most
interesting thing about Bear Mountain is that it is the home for a population of
black bears. In general black bears are rather solitary creatures, but on Bear
Mountain there is an exceptional bear named Griz. Griz likes nothing
better than visiting with the other bears, especially if there is an adventure
to be had. A lot of Griz's adventures have included his best friend S'Morris.
While Griz and most of the other bears live in the many caves on Bear Mountain, S'Morris considers himself an outdoorsman and sleeps out in the woods, often beside the little campfires that he makes to cook his supper. He has explored more of Bear Mountain than any bear, and this knowledge has come in handy when Griz has dragged him along on some of his many adventures. This is the story of one such adventure and the surprise that waited for S'Morris at the end of it.
A cloudy summer morning not too long ago found Griz up early and bustling about his cave. That day he had a mission, he was to take S'Morris to the top of Bear Mountain in search of some osprey feathers for Mr. Frank, the toymaker. Mr. Frank didn't really need the feathers right then, but Griz knew it was important that S'Morris spend the day far away from his favorite spot in a clearing by Sunnyside Lake. By the time Griz would normally be waking up, he was already approaching S'Morris' clearing. As Griz had anticipated S'Morris was already up and eating his breakfast.
"Good Morning S'Morris, do you fancy a climb today? Mr. Frank needs some osprey feathers, and I told him we would go look for some high up above the tree line," said Griz as he entered the clearing. S'Morris agreed that it sounded like fun, so after he and Griz had a breakfast of blueberries and pine nuts the two of them set off. The climb was easy at first, but by the time Griz and S'Morris cleared the tree line it had become much steeper, and they worked hard to scramble up the rocks.
By the time Griz and S'Morris came to a large rock outcrop called Eagle Point, the clouds had moved away and it had become a lovely sunny day. From Eagle Point you could see down over the sides of Bear Mountain, Sunnyside Lake was directly down below, and they could see Uncle Dunk's favorite fishing stream, Rosie's glade, and the ridges where most of the bears had their caves.
A little while later, S'Morris pointed to a ledge high up above them. "Look up there Griz, it's an osprey nest, and it looks like it's still in use. I bet we could find some feathers if we look around the rocks at the bottom of that ledge." "You're right" said Griz, "let's hurry before the osprey comes back. If there are babies in that nest we might not be very welcome." Quickly the two friends climbed over the rocks between them and the base of the ledge.
Searching among the rocks, the bears soon found plenty of feathers. Just as the bears were preparing to leave they heard the screech of a large bird. Looking up into the sky, S'Morris spotted a big osprey circling in the sky high above them. Suddenly the big bird dived down toward the two bears, swooped right over their heads, then flew up to the nest to settled down.
"Wow, I thought she was going to attack us!" said Griz. "No, she just wanted to let us know she was home," replied S'Morris. "Ospreys can see very well, by the time she flew down to us she had already seen that everything was fine in her nest." "Then we better start home" said Griz. "All right, but first I want to try something," said S'Morris. He pulled a piece of salmon out of his sack and set it on a flat rock. Then he and Griz sat on a rock at a little distance, and he said "Now you just watch this, it's a little something Mr. Frank showed me once."
As they watched, the osprey swooped down from its nest to the piece of salmon, picked up the fish and flew back up to its nest. "That was great!" exclaimed Griz, "I have never seen an osprey that close up before." The climb down the mountain was much easier than the climb up, and before long Griz and S'Morris were following the banks of Sunnyside Lake toward S'Morris' clearing.
As they approached the clearing they heard the sound of other bears talking excitedly. S'Morris looked at Griz, who had a big smile on his face. As the clearing came into view S'Morris could see that nearly all the bears on Bear Mountain were there. Two big logs had been brought in, and piled on top of them was lots and lots of food. "Welcome back, boys," said Mr. Frank. "I hope you worked up quite an appetite looking for feathers, because there's a whole lot of food at this picnic."
S'Morris tuned to Griz and said "What's all this about then?" "Well, we just thought that today would be a perfect day for the annual Bear Mountain picnic, and this year you are the guest of honor." "Wow, that's great! Thank you all very much. Now let's eat, hunting for feathers all day has made me very hungry," said S'Morris. The bears rushed toward the food and a great feast was had by all. As they sat around leaning against trees and letting the feast digest, Griz sat on a stump in the middle of the clearing and regaled the gathered bears with the story of his latest adventure.
S'Morris the bear wool sculpture $39.95
