The Best Medicine

On his return from a trip into the wilds, a birdwatcher told this story of an encounter with a bear. “I was hiking through the woods,” he said, “and came to a big clearing. I got into the middle of the field and found myself face-to-face with the biggest bear I had ever seen. He was at least twelve feet tall and his paws were at least a foot wide. I turned and ran for my life toward the only tree standing in the field. It was a very tall tree and the first branch was a good twenty-five feet above the ground.” “What did you do?” cried one of his listeners. “What could I do?” the man replied. “The bear was right behind me. I could feel his hot breath on my neck. So I took a flying leap for that branch.” “Did you make it?” the listener asked. “Well, no,” said the birdwatcher, “not going up. But I caught it coming down.”