Monday, November 18, 2013

Blondie's Books From Friends (BFFs)

Blondie's Books From Friends (BFFs)

Welcome to Blondie's First Author Spotlight

I wanted to introduce you to a few of my close author friends who have been supportive of my writing. I hope you will take a few minutes to check out their new books and follow their blogs and social media sites as a favor to me. You will not be disappointed. I have very good taste in friends as you will see these are quality folks, and mighty fine authors with great stories to tell. While you're doing your holiday shopping, consider adding a few of their titles to your wish list, gift list, and e-readers! I know I am!

There is something for all tastes with these 7 Books From Friends (BFFs) with very diverse subjects ranging from a science fiction tale from a NASA Astrophysicist to a Chef's love story. There is an autobiographical story from Kenya and a horror ballet frightmare to thrill you, with two short story collections with real world character driven tales. Finally a horror Christmas story sure to make you look at the holidays a little differently. 

 If you purchase any of these books please take a few minutes to write a review on Amazon. This is the bread and butter for the Indie author -- reviews! I would love for you to share this post so we can get as much attention as possible for these great authors. Thank you! 

So without further adieu -- Blog readers, please meet my BFFs...


Terry Tyler

How Do I Know the Aqualicious Ms. K J Waters?

Terry Tyler, Author of 7 Books
We are but online friends, alas, but then that’s the way with so many people these days, isn’t it? I ‘met’ KJ when I first joined Twitter two years ago – I had just published my first book on Amazon and I was told I need to tweet to promote it. I joined Twitter but wasn’t at all sure what to do, so I just used to chat to people; KJ was one of the first with whom I did. She calls me ‘Glodie’ because I remind her of Goldie Hawn (all we have in common are the wrinkles, but never mind!), and I make a lot of typos, so have been known to refer to myself as ‘Glodie’….! *Terry is covering for me. I was the typo maker.*

KJ and I have since become Facebook friends, followed each others’ fledgling (now well established!) blogs, and I’m massively dying to read her debut novel Stealing Time, when it comes out. I’ve been waiting for it for two years – hurricanes and time travel? It’s so far up my street it’s practically through the door, down the hall way and in the living room!

My Latest Book
Very soon, very, very soon, I shall be publishing my seventh book, which is a collection of nine short stories called Nine Lives. It will be free on publication, for five days only, so please look out for it – I know KJ will tweet about it! *Of course I will Terry!* 

Nine Lives does not have a single theme; the stories are about such things as extra-marital affairs, jealousy, weight loss, first love, mistakes made under the influence of alcohol – much like what I write about in my novels! I’m planning publication day will be November 20, so I hope you will download!

Thank you very much for featuring me, KJ, and I am proud to be one of your BFFs!



Links
If you would like to take a look at my books, here are the links to my author pages: Terry Tyler on Amazon UK and Terry Tyler Amazon USA.

Terry's snarky and fun blog: Terry Tyler's Blog

Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook


John Malik


John Malik, Author and 
Award Winning Chef
I love salt water. I love being tossed about by the waves and I love feeling the tug and push of the tides.  I find it mesmerizing. I can’t think of a better example to describe our planet’s forces of nature. Get into the salt water on an East coast beach and you won’t need to think about how complex our planet is, you’ll feel it.

I think KJ shares that same love for salt water and that’s why I love reading her blog.  She clearly understands the attraction. There’s a sensuality to being immersed in warm salt water and there’s a wonderful attraction to being part of the ocean’s complexity. 

The grit of the sand, the brine of the water, the possibility of an encounter with a fish, crab, urchin or jellyfish is irresistible to me. Sure I’ve been stung, pinched, bumped and bit by all matters of sea creatures but I expect that when I jump into the ocean. I think KJ shares that sentiment.  And I’m pretty sure she’s part mermaid. *I am, John, it's true.*

If you’re looking for a love story, take a look at KJ’s novel, Stealing Time.  It features a hurricane as the central character and there’s a bit of time travel too. *He's kidding, it is a thriller. I do love severe weather, though, he's right about that!*

My Novel

And what about my novel, Doughnuts for Amy?  Well I’ve been picked up by a publisher, Winter Goose. Doughnuts for Amy isn’t currently for sale. It will return in late Spring of 2014.  I would love for you to become a follower of my writing. 


Links

You can connect with me on my Facebook fan page or on Twitter and my blog.

*I asked John to submit a few paragraphs for this Author Spotlight blog and he completely shocked and delighted me with an entire post called Blondie in the Water on his blog 'Chef John Malik -- A Writer Trapped in a Chef's Body.' See the full post here.  Thank you again, John! You are amazing!*


Wendy Potocki

Wendy Potocki, Author of 6 Novels
Ahoy Mateys and Manatees!
The meeting of K J, a.k.a. Blondie, was quite natural since we both frequent the same ocean. You see, I’m a navy seal … and I’m not talking military. I mean that I’m literally a dark blue seal. You know, the kind that claps and balances things on their nose for treats?  In fact, Blondie taught me those tricks. 

 Now while some may eschew my rather elegant blue coloring, the only real problem I’ve encountered is finding suitable flippers. They’re almost always black—and navy paired with black is a big fashion faux pas. And in case you’re wondering if any of this is true, I should add that I relentlessly create fiction to spice things up. When I was young, it was called lying, but it’s now known as creative license. *Wendy, you're crazy! ;)x, but in the best way possible!*


My Latest Thriller -- Black Adagio

 I put that imagination to good use in my latest thriller entitled BLACK ADAGIO. The genre is horror, but this frightmare can be read by anyone 15 and up. The description is as follows: Melissa Solange is presented the chance of a lifetime. Chosen as a member of a new dance company, she works tirelessly perfecting the one element of ballet she's never mastered—the adagio. 

As she rehearses, a dark force watches. Resurrected by the surprise addition of a classic ballet to the repertoire, the sinister work is thought to be cursed—destroying anyone who attempts to dance it. When the production's lead dancers begin to disappear, the old warning is taken more seriously. A death worshipping cult called The Innocents is blamed, but Melissa is not so sure. They may be the scapegoat for an ultimate evil living in the woods of Holybrook. Desperate for an answer, she searches for what lurks in the shadows of the old trees before she becomes the next victim of the Danse Macabre.
Links

Amazon Link
Facebook
Twitter
Blog: http://legendofthingsonsticks.wordpress.com/

Jeri Walker-Bickett

Jeri Walker-Bickett, Author
and Freelance Editor
I first encountered KJ in my earliest days on Twitter. She was a larger-than-life figure in 140 characters or less. In the months that followed, she’d occasionally say a hello or make a wisecrack. 

When she posted on Blondie in the Water to ask for input on choosing a cover for Stealing Time, I think that’s when we started to get to know each other better. She is very open to learning all she can, and not afraid to ask for help. I find that kind of openness very appealing.  

Once we friended each other on Facebook, I became even more aware of her awesome sense of humor. *Aw                                                                                         shucks, thanks Jeri*
My Short Story Collection 

Such is Life contains realistic short stories that feature characters down on their luck, yet stubborn enough to move on. A tryst between a carnival worker and a pretty high school student begs the question of who takes advantage of who. 

A young man’s encounter with a drug addict finds him striking out on his own in hopes of a better life. An English teacher publishes literature deemed inappropriate by a Mormon community. A mother goes on a quest to get rid of the family’s aggressive pet. Finally, New Orleans provides the backdrop for a stroll with a psychotic housewife.

JeriWB writes short stories, creative nonfiction, and psychological suspense. The rough Idaho mining town she grew up in populates her literary landscape. She also works as a freelance editor.

 Links
You can buy Such is Life at Amazon Author Central
Blog JeriWB: What do I know?
Twitter
Elisha Chirchir, 
Author and Software Developer

Elisha Chirchir

Once in a long while, you run into strangers online not knowing what will come out of it. Some will help you set up Facebook pages while some will keep the humor jar always full. K J Waters did both for me. Trust me, her smiles and straight talk keep me on my toes.

When I learned that she was working on a book, I told her I will be the first fan to buy it - and I can’t wait! *:D *Thanks so much, E!*






My first book “My Life Sentences - A True Story” has seen some significant success especially in the United States and Europe. I attribute this to the fact that it is a true story based on my own life. It took a lot of courage to write the book, let alone publish it for the whole world to see. 

In brief, it involves my personal story which is partly based in my home country Kenya (Africa) and the second part which is based in the United States. I have been humbled by the thousands of readers who have downloaded the book to date.


 Links
My book is available on Amazon: My Life in Sentences
Website: http://simpledeveloper.com/about/
Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest

David Batchelor

David Batchelor, Author,
NASA Astrophysicist
I met KJ on Twitter through our mutual friend Charles Munn. I have retweeted lots of KJ's humorous postings, so various paper.li editions published her writing, too. But she usually didn't notice that she was in all of those paper.li's until I told her! Guess she doesn't do much vanity searching.

I especially loved the Blondie post about the 3 bears in Jellystone  (oops! Yellowstone) Park. And she's a great beach photographer and tweeter. We have both lived in Maryland and she thinks I'm in Baltimore but I really live in Beltsville. *Actually, Dave I said you're a Baltimoron, like me. Beltsville is close enough to qualify! ;)* We are both science fiction lovers    and writers, so I look forward to reading Stealing Time. 


My Novel

My first novel is The Metalmark Contract. It's about an alien trader who visits Earth in the near future, offering a deal for starship technology IF we trade him the planet Mercury and moon Triton of Neptune. A drama of international adventure, politics, intrigue and hard science fiction in the Asimov/Clarke flavor. Is Metalmark an honest dealer, or is it a contract with an interstellar devil? 

Please peruse these reviews by The Wisdom Cube and authors Christine Rice, Yolanda Reid, and Charles Munn. *Tell me you aren't intrigued by a NASA scientist's science fiction novel!*

Links

The Metalmark Contract on Amazon

You are invited to follow me on Twitter.


Ron Chapman


A while ago I made a friend on Twitter who just happens to be a blonde hair, blue eyed, water loving time traveler by the name of KJ Waters. We encouraged each other about our writing and after a few months KJ convinced me to set up my blog, The Kilted Monkey. The name came from KJ’s fetish for Scotland and men in kilts, and somewhere a monkey was thrown into the mix. It’s now a running joke that if she doesn’t keep working on her book the kilted monkey will show up and crack his whip!
A Christmas Horror Story

 My first novel is a horror story called Kringle. It’s a Christmas story that includes Kris Kringle and most of the holiday legends. Kringle reveals a lot of secrets from my past that have made me into the person I am today. Along with a little bit of A Christmas Carol, Kringle is a story like no other. You can find it on Amazon here: 

 You can see what has inspired me for Mrs. Kringle on my blog, kiltedmonkeyauthor.blogspot.com, Check out some of the other pictures that inspired the characters in Kringle. I have a new short story up on there called Safe Sex, if you're into Zombies, for adults only.

 Links

Find out more about me and my writings at:

Twitter, Facebook and Klout


Which Titles Catch Your Eye?

Please leave a comment and let me know what books piqued your interest and if you purchased anything. I'd like to provide some feedback to my authors. As always, thank you so much for reading my blog. 

KJ Waters

I am a mom and a writer working on my first novel Stealing Time, that I'm hoping to have out this spring. It's a time travel thriller set in 2004 Florida during Hurricane Charley. Please check out my social media links below. 

I would love to hear from you! Please take a minute and leave a message for me in the comments section below. 

Contact Me



 Please forgive any formatting problems with this post. It was a complete mess after I carefully created the post, Blogger went mad!
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Blondie's Liebster Award #3 -- Liebster Love

Liebster Love For Blondie in the Water


A huge thank you to Jeri Walker-Bickett for nominating Blondie the Water with the Liebster Award. This is my third award of the Liebster variety and probably the most exciting, considering the company I'm keeping this round. Jeri has several blogs all award-worthy, so check them out here.

For this award I answer 11 questions from Jeri and provide 11 random facts about me. I then ask my award winners 11 new questions. I would love for my blog readers to take a crack at a few of these questions in the comment section below. A bloggers reward is interacting with her readers and I would be honored if you'd join the fun!

 About the Liebster Award
Image of Liebster Blog AwardThe idea behind this award is to recognize bloggers with under 500 followers for an excellent work and help them promote their blog.
If I've nominated you for the Liebster Award and you accept it, you will need to follow a few rules.
1. Write a blog post about the Liebster Award.
2.  Thank the person that nominated you.
3. Post a link to their blog on your blog.
4.   Display the award on your blog and include it in your post and/or display it using a widget. 5.   Answer the 11 questions about yourself provided by the person who nominated you.
6.   Give 11 random facts about yourself.
7.   Nominate 5-11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have less than 1000 followers.
8.   Create a new list of questions for the nominated bloggers to answer. 
9.   List the rules in your post.
10. Inform the bloggers you’ve nominated them for the Liebster Award. Remember to give them a link to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!).
Note that you can nominate someone who has been given the Liebster Award already, as long as they have less than 500 followers/subscribers.

Questions For Me From Jeri

1. Who has been the most positive influence in your life?

I immediately have to say my mom, who is always been supremely supportive of all my endeavors. She has been my rock through hard times and the first person to sing my praises during the good times.

2. What was your most memorable Halloween costume?

One Halloween when I was 10ish I was Pippy Longstockings, one of my favorite book series as a kid. I was drawn to her crazy free spirit and goofy antics. My step-father was wicked-good (as they say in Boston) with the coat hangers and made my braids stick out straight to the sides. 
Pippy Longstockings
A close second would be the time I was a cowgirl and I talked my friends into being the horse. They realized half way through the night I orchestrated that perfectly ... they were hot and hunched over as I did my heehaws!

3.  When do you write best? Mornings, afternoons, evenings?

My best writing is mid-day. I get the kids off to school, hit the gym, and get my social media things done in the morning. Late morning and early afternoon I get into my writing groove over a cup of coffee in my living room full of sunshine and bright colors. 


4.  Where did you go on your favorite vacation?

Bermuda without a doubt, Got a Blondie in Bermuda blog on that if you want to experience it.
Beautiful Bermuda calls my name... Kaaaaay Jaaaaaay...come back to me.

5.  Why is reality TV so popular?

I'm a big fan of reality TV, starting with the first show Survivor. I think I've seen every episode since 2000, minus one season. 

 For me I prefer reality TV over the scripted sitcoms and dramas. I find it more real, although I readily admit there is a lot of tinkering by the producers for the most dramatic outcome. Still, it focuses on interpersonal actions and getting to the true personalities of the contestants. For me the appeal is seeing the depth of personality brought out during high stress situations. So many possibilities for conflict. And I can't escape the fact that a good portion of the challenges are in the water.
Put me in Jeff, I could handle your water challenges!

Especially when the genre first came out it was so different than anything on TV. Now with social media you can follow along on twitter with Jeff Probst and hear his take on the contestants and the show.  
That being said, I've given up most of 'my shows' to finish my book. I still watch Survivor with my son and a few things with the family...Spongebob is a big hit here.

6.  How do you relax?

If you've read my blog you'll already know that I find water very relaxing. I have a pool and a hot tub in my back yard and I make good use of it. When I"m stressed, and this doesn't happen very often, exercise is my cure. A quick run, swim, or bike usually releases the grip of anxiety.

In terms of just relaxing, I love curling up on the couch with my kids and watching movies and any time I can get out in nature is very healing for me.
Princess Lake on Cape Cod I visited last summer.

7.  Which work of art most inspires you?

I have thought about this a lot. There are a lot of artists that have inspired me but the top of my list has to be God's handiwork with the natural beauty that surrounds us. If you follow me on Instagram or twitter, you've see what I mean. My favorites have to be big blue ocean waves, pink sandy beaches, sunny skies, green fields and flowers. Here is a fav from  this summer from the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. (Want more Yellowstone? Check out my two blogs: Blondielocks and the Three Grizzly Bears and Blondielocks and the Three Black Bears.)
I took this this summer at Yellowstone National Park this summer.

8. Could you live without electricity? 

Maybe if I were born with out electricity I'd not know what I was missing. Since I'm spoiled, and a spoiled American at that, I definitely couldn't live without electricity. 

9.  Are you afraid of the dark?

I am usually not afraid of the dark. Most of the time I'm fearless. Until I'm alone in the wee hours of the night and remember my ghost experience. With a warm body nearby, kid or adult, the ghosties stay away. 
Stay away!

9. Can you honestly say you’ve never stolen anything?

Nope, not gonna lie. This question made me think of a coffee pot I stole from the swim team moms at the pool I managed in college. I thought it was just something that was accidentally left there and took it home, ready to bring to my apartment in college. The last few minutes the pool was open for the season a lady came by asking about it. That was years ago and I still feel bad about it. Let me just say the coffee made from that pot was strictly of the bitter variety.

10. What song lyrics strike you as hauntingly beautiful?

This song was out last summer and reminds me of a friendship that ended just after that.




11 Randomly Random Facts About Me

1. My favorite number is 27.

2. I had a massive crush on Michael Landon when I was a kid. Too many reruns of Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza.
Michael Landon, from Bonanza reruns. Isn't he dreamy? Sure was nice of him to listen to me practice the flute.

3. My parents divorced when I was 7. My mom and dad both remarried and my four parents were shockingly able to get along and co-parent us.

4. I went to the Maryland State Championship for track for the 2 mile relay. Competed at the Naval Academy in Annapolis and was massively distracted by all the military dudes there.

5. Goes nicely with the last one ... I am attracted to military men. Something about patriotism, short hair, and muscles.

Need I say more?

6. My favorite color is blue -- all the shades of the ocean.

Me on the beach in Cape Cod last summer.

7. If I could live anywhere it would be Florida or Bermuda.

8. I have had the pleasure of petting a penguin. He was a King Penguin and his name was Steven. T'was a lovely moment.
King Penguins stand about 3 feet tall.

9. I just upgraded my phone to an iPhone 5c. It's blue.

10. I still remember my favorite teacher's favorite joke from Middle School. Mrs. Mongello was my eight grade science and health teacher and claimed she was going to name her first born son Lem. (Ok put 'em together, you'll see why that's funny.)

Yes, we're talking jello.

11.  My college art teacher wanted me to double major in art. I was already a business major. I kept it simple and kept the art as a minor.

My Nominees for the Liebster Award

Congratulations to the following nominees:

1.  Kevin Saito http://www.kevinsaito.com/ I Recently met Kevin on twitter and have enjoyed his sense of humor and good cheer.

2.  Kim Norris http://four-good-ideas.blogspot.com/

3.  Veronica Singleton Thursday's Child http://veronicalsingleton.com/

4.  Lisette Brodey http://lisettebrodey.com/

5. BV Bharati http://glipho.com/bharatibv

6.  Vickie Johnstone http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.com/

7.  Tracie Banister http://traciebanister.blogspot.com/

Please follow the instructions at the beginning of this post to participate in the Liebster Award and tag  me so I can share your blog post.

11 Random Questions 

Readers of my blog, please play along by including a few of your answers in the comment section below! I'd love to hear from you! If you want to know my answers to these questions just ask! 

11 Questions for My Nominees 

1.  Give us a snapshot of your favorite beach or pool memory.

2. What is your favorite genre to read for pleasure?

3. I would love to know about one of your most embarrassing moments. I'll share mine if you're brave enough to share yours. I'll even give you two …

4. Who is your favorite celebrity and why? 

5. What is your favorite place on the planet? Why?

6.  Tell us about your next book idea. If you don't have one or aren't ready to share it, make something up and give us a wink so we know it’s a fake.

7.  What is your favorite social media site and why? (twitter, facebook, pinterest, instagram ...)

8. Name one thing on your bucket list and tell us about it.

9.  In your opinion, what is your most redeeming quality? Something that makes up for the hot mess we all hide from everyone.

10.  What is the last book you read for pleasure. Thumbs up or down?

11. What is the furthest you've been away from home. Was it for work, on vacation or other?

Contact Me

I would love to hear from you! Please take a minute and leave a message for me in the comments section below. 

 When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by Spring 2014 with book two close behind.





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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Radio Appearance on Live From The Morgue -- October 4, 2013


K J Waters Radio Appearance

Live From The Morgue Internet Radio

On Friday October 4, 2013, I was a guest on Live From The Morgue Internet radio show. Below is the link to that performance.

 I had a blast as a guest with writer and creator of comic books Dan Price (Latex Avenger, Master's of the Obvious) from Hound Comics, and the Morgue host Wolf and his motley crew: author Susan Dean, Rotti, Dark Claw, Hell Raiser, The Ghost and party crasher Pete from Disruptive Radio.

Listen here: Epic 8 Man Karaoke. It is also available on iTunes for a free download here: Episode 95 Epic Karaoke.

My interview begins at minute 17 where I talk about my book, Stealing Time. For the rest of the show I'm a guest just adding my two cents in here and there talking about my latest blog, Blondielocks and the Three Bears, Hurricane Karen, Angelina Jolie, with a finale of 8 man karaoke to 'American Pie.' Seriously you don't really wanna hear that last bit. The amount I suck on this is epic. 

 I was on the show last September for episode 42, the Ghost Show that is now missing in action. The iTunes version and the link on the Live from the Morgue website fell off the map! How is that for spooky. Wolf had a back up copy and I'll reattach the link on my earlier blog as soon as I get it in case you want to hear my ghost story. 

If you enjoyed this please comment and share!


Don't miss Susan Dean's release of her first novel Rise of the Spyres I The Beginning, out today, October 9, 2013!


The first book of the series, ‘Rise of the Spyres: The Beginning’, is the story of a courageous woman known as Shilo. On the night that her parents were to explain the unusual events surrounding their family, a tragic accident takes their lives. Soon after, Shilo’s uncle Telius, a good friend to the family, steps up to take over as her and her twin brother Danko’s lone guardian. Shilo discovers Telius is more than a guardian. As time passes, Telius slowly begins to unravel the true meaning to Shilo’s life; she is the leader of a clan of super humans known as ‘Spyres’. Shilo’s destiny is to lead them against their mortal enemies known as the Telkins. Shilo partakes in this epic adventure, as she has to make the decisions between life and death, love and betrayal and the ultimate decision of the war that rages inside all of us, Good vs. Evil.



Connect With Me

When I'm not working on Stealing Time you can find me on my social media at the links below. I hope to have my novel completed by Spring 2014 with book two close behind.


 Latex Avenger spermicidal foam 
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Monday, September 30, 2013

Blondielocks along the Yellowstone River Part 2 -- Blondilocks and the Three Black Bears

Blondielocks and the Three Bears -- 

Part 2 Black Bear Edition



Yellowstone National Park, June 2013

The sunrise greeted us with a spectacular display over the mountains on our second day in Yellowstone. The day would prove to be incredible -- outdoing our first day by a mile (Read about Blondielocks and the Three Bears Grizzly edition Day 1 here). We drove south from our cabin along the Yellowstone River in Montana down to the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and made our way towards Old Faithful. 


The view off the balcony of our cabin.
We saw a mass of cars filling a parking lot near the petrified tree. Previously, where there were cars big critters were making an appearance. Parking the car near a National Park film crew van we made our way down a wooded path getting excited for what we might find. Down the road a crowd of people gathered around a ranger's pickup truck. A magical moment was afoot -- a mother black bear and her two cubs were laying under a tree about 25 feet down a hill. 


Mama and black bear cubs. Look how full his little tummy is!

The ranger welcomed us by saying, "You are witnessing a once in a lifetime scene." He had tears in his eyes. "I've been watching this mother bear in the area for years. This is the first time I've seen her with twins." He whispered excitedly. "She is usually hiding the cubs because of the grizzlies." 

The ranger continued, "She was standing up not fifteen minutes ago nursing the cubs when I got the call." We watched the trio lying in the grass, cubs asleep with the mother keeping a sleepy watch. A nice man in the front of the crowd moved aside and let my kids get closer so they could see. 

Lady Luck was with us again today. I promised to pay her in chocolate if she kept hanging around.

"Sir, ma'am." The ranger stopped a couple who were attempting to walk down the road toward the petrified tree. "You need to walk slowly in tight groups. We don't want the mother bear agitated." The couple waited patiently for another few people to join them down the path to the petrified tree.  

I was curious and asked him about it. He answered, "Bears don't have very good vision. If they see a large group they won't view it as prey. They ignore it as something too big to eat." 

"I thought we weren't allowed to be within 100 feet of a bear in the park." I said. 

"You're not. That's why I'm here to control the situation." He touched the bear spray and pistol on his belt. "I've asked everyone to keep calm and follow proper bear etiquette." An image of Goldilocks came to mind with her very poor treatment of the bears. 

"She must have mated with a cinnamon bear to have two cubs of such a different color. In the fifteen years I've worked in this park I've never seen it." He was very chatty and I picked his brain for about fifteen minutes until the mother bear began eyeing the crowd. We decided to not be greedy and moseyed off to see Old Faithful. 

Lady luck had her pick of the chocolates from the gift shop and I got a delicious coffee to sip on as we watched Old Faithful spew its magic minutes after we stepped outside.
The most famous attraction at Yellowstone: Old Faithful
Later in the week we were heading back to Old Faithful Lodge, my son's favorite place, and at the top of my list as well. Just down the road from the petrified tree area several cars were pulled over. We made a parking spot, against park rules since we were partly blocking the road, and walked towards the crowd excitedly.

A cinnamon bear cub was clinging to the very top branch of a tree swaying back and forth about 40 feet in the air. With the help of another spotting scope we saw the mother black bear resting under a tree. It had to be the three bears we'd seen earlier in the week. The coloring was the same, black mama and cinnamon baby. The second cub was not in sight and we hoped a grizzly hadn't gotten to him. Likely something had scared the cub up the tree a while ago, given the relaxed state of the mama bear.

A ranger interrupted our discussions asking us politely to move our car. We obliged and made our way to the lodge for lunch clicking through our cameras to see if we got any good shots. None of us did.

That night we drove through the Lamar Valley on the north eastern side of Yellowstone. A herd of pronghorn antelope were skipping through the tall grass along the river and buffalo were roaming contentedly. 


Pronghorn Antelope in Lamar Valley
Now where were the deer? It was all we needed to capture that old song.



A few snapshots and we continued our way along the beautiful landscape. As it was unavoidable, we stopped at a picnic area to use the outhouse. Some of these little wooden structures were vented but this particular one must have been too close to the stream to allow such niceties. Never in my life have I smelled such horror. As Shorty's mom I got to stay in for two rounds as she needed my help to not fall in the dreaded contraption. 

Thankfully we were rewarded when we came out gasping for fresh air, nearly sick from the fumes. A few people were talking excitedly down by the stream. Happy to be as far away from the ick as we could get we breathed in the fresh smell of grass and pine and made our way towards them.

"What's going on?" I asked looking in the direction of their gaze into the woods. 

"We just saw a bear up beyond that crooked tree." The man pointed up the hill across the shallow stream. 

"Heading away from us right?" I asked looking down at Shorty and holding her a bit closer. 

"Who knows? He could double back." The man said. "It's our first bear sighting. We got here a month ago and haven't seen one yet! Did you see the claw marks on the tree near the outhouse?"

I hadn't but would go back and check it out on our way back to the car. I told him of our grizzly sighting the first five minutes in the park (Blondielocks and the Three Bears, see part 1) and the mama and cinnamon bears from earlier in the week. They looked at us in astonishment. Shorty backed me up shyly nodding and saying "The baby bears were so cute." 

We talked for another few minutes and decided to find the rest of our family. As we walked away I asked lady luck to consider a donation to this couple. We had been blessed with an abundance so far. Not that I was complaining. She smiled and pointed upstream. The rest of our group was there with a gaggle of die hard naturalist. Two of them had spotting scopes and were very generous letting us all gawk into them. 

My mother in law was hogging one scope and talking a mile a minute. She fit right in with the die hards, being one herself. She told us a red fox and pup were up in the woods about a quarter a mile away. We looked intently up the hill and saw trees and shadows. Waiting my turn, I got a peek in the scope and helped Shorty see as well. 

The mother fox was lazing between two trees. She glanced in the pup's direction flattening her ears nearly rolling her eyes and looked away. Her offspring must have been driving her batty -- I knew the look. In another scope we could see the pup stomping his little feet in the dirt creating a cloud and running back up a small hill having an absolute ball. With the naked eye you could see a puff of dirt in the shadows but nothing else. It was amazing to see fox in the wild so comfortable in their surroundings. I couldn't help but think of the bear not too far off and hoped it wasn't doubling back for a pup snack.   


Red Fox watching her pup.

As the sun lowered in the sky we decided to get back to the Lamar Valley with its wide open spaces to see more animals with nary a single tree to block the view.  


Lamar Valley, where the deer and antelope play.
On our drive there we saw movement in the hilly woods above us. We stopped the car and pulled out our cameras. It was a black bear who kindly answered the age old question for us -- "Does a bear poop in the woods?" He confirmed this with gusto before our very eyes standing on the end of a log -- His large bear ass pointing in our general direction and let loose. We all laughed and had to explain the saying to wee Shorty. I marveled at how outrageous Lady Luck was with her excellent timing. I was going to have to give her something more than chocolate. 

Does a bear poop in the woods? Yes. Off the end of a log apparently.
We ended our day making our way up the Yellowstone River marveling at all the glory of the park. We had all been blessed with so many special memories during the week with all the bear sightings topping them all. Even our poo stories were special.

Yellowstone will always be in my heart and we hope to go back in a few years. It is such a huge place there is no way to see it all in one visit. Next time we will explore the southern half and maybe find Lady Luck again.  For more information on Yellowstone, visit their website: http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm.

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