Nothing.

Sometimes it's nice to do nothing.

"Aaaaaajdin," Ooogie said.  "Whaaaaaaaat are youuuuuuuuuu doooooooooing?"

"Nothing," I said.

"That looooooooooooks niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice."

"Ajdin, Ooogie," Uncle Tibbs said.  "What are you doing?"

"Nooooooooooothing," we said.

"Hmm, I think I'll join you."

Sometimes it's really nice to just relax and do nothing.

Supermarket

My mom mentioned that she had to pick up a few things from the supermarket so I offered to do it today while she was at work.  It's nice to be able to help out with errands sometimes when she is busy.

There were some beautiful flowers for sale.  Look how bright and colorful they are!

I picked up a pink rose for my mom.  I think she will like it beary much.

I also browsed through some vegetable seeds and thought of all my friends, like Sandy, who are planting and harvesting their gardens.  I wish I had a garden.  Maybe I will try to plant something in a small pot.

Next was the produce section.  I picked up some items here.

I got a few ears of corn.  Corn is beary delicious, especially sweet summer corn.  I cannot wait until the summer when corn is so plentiful and tasty.  Mmm!

Look at these nice bell peppers.  They remind me of a traffic light.

But where was the fish section?  Ah, here it is.  A nice offering of salmon and other fish.

I placed an order with the man behind the counter.  He looked a little surprised, but was beary friendly.  I guess he has never seen a bear order fish at a supermarket before.

Then I stopped in the greeting card section.  I saw a nice card that would be very fitting for Little Fox.  Do you see it?

Next, I headed to the frozen food aisle where I picked up some Ben and Jerry's ice cream.  Maybe they have a flavor called Jerry and Ben's ice cream.  I wonder what that would taste like, perhaps like hot chocolate and honey?

The last stop was the bakery.  There were many kinds of bread on the shelf, but I selected this nice loaf of bread.  I have a feeling it will taste beary good.

Okay, now it was time to check out.  I headed to the cashier and put my items on the conveyor belt.

Then I paid using my credit card.  The cashier also looked a little surprised but was beary friendly.  I guess she has never seen a bear pay for groceries before.

Okay, my shopping was all done here.  But as I headed for the exit, I noticed something unusual near the toy section.  I heard some voices yelling, "Help!  Let us out!"  I turned and saw a bunch of stuffies trapped inside a large plastic box.  There was also a dangling metal claw inside of this box.  I put in 50 cents like the machine said and tried to free one of them, but it didn't work.  I will have to try next time to free the stuffies inside.

Easter candy

Happy Belated Easter, everyone!  I got a chocolate bunny.  Did you get some good candy?  Don't forget to share your candy with your friends.  :)

A beary interesting question

Lately, I have been thinking about a beary interesting question.  I could not seem to find any answers on my own, so I went to Uncle Tibbs.  He seems to know quite a bit.  Maybe he would know the answer.

"Uncle Tibbs, I have a question," I said.

"Sure, Ajdin," he said.  "You always have interesting questions.  Come sit on my lap."

I cleared my throat.  This was a beary serious question.

"Uncle Tibbs, what does it mean to be... real?" I asked.  "Am I real?  If not, how do I become real?"

For the first time ever, Uncle Tibbs looked beary confused.

"Uh, what do you mean, Ajdin?"

"I mean, being real.  Am I a real bear?  Are you a real bear, Uncle Tibbs?  Sometimes I am told that I am a stuffed bear, but I want to be a real bear."

Uncle Tibbs scratched his head.

"Hmm!" he said.  "Ajdin, this is a beary big question for a beary little bear, and I'm afraid that even I don't know how to answer that.  Umm, I guess we are real.  I think we are real.  Do you feel real, Ajdin?"

"I guess so," I said.  "But then again, I've always felt this way."

"Ajdin, I do think that we are different from other bears, that's for sure," he said.  "Not all bears in this world write blogs or go on adventures like you do.  I also think that your blog friends Jerry and Ben, Little Fox, and Sandy, just to name a few, are also quite special."

"So we are real because we have blogs?" I asked.

"I think it is more than that, Ajdin," Uncle Tibbs said.  He took a deep breath before answering.  "Now Ajdin, I am just guessing here, and you have really stumped me with your question.  But I think all stuffies have the potential to be real, but they need a human to make them real.  See, humans are quite interesting creatures.  They have this wonderful thing called an i-m-a-g-i-n-a-t-i-o-n.  And when they use it, it can be like magic and make anything real.  All stuffies can talk and think like us, but they need a human who can speak stuffie-talk.  And not all humans can speak to stuffies.  So I guess you need to find a special human.  But that's just my guess, Ajdin.  I still don't know for sure."

"So I guess we're lucky we found a human who can speak stuffie, is that right?" I asked.  Uncle Tibbs shrugged.

Does anyone know what it means to be real?  We are both still scratching our heads on this one.  It's a lot of thinking for a little bear.  I think I need to take a break with some honey tea and toast right now.

Outdoor exercise

The weather has been great lately, so that means more walks outside.  I even tried some of the exercise fitness stations on the hiking trail nearby.

Oooh, balancing on this balance beam was beary tricky...

Erghhh... I pulled myself onto some parallel bars...

But it seems that I couldn't quite get myself down.  Help me?  Anyone?  Help?

Playground

The weather was again beary good today so I went to the playground.  There were a few kids at the playground so I had to wait my turn for the swings.

But it was worth it once I got one.  I love the swings.  It makes me feel like I am a bird and can fly.

Then I climbed onto this... thing.  I'm not sure what it is exactly.  My mom tried to climb it and almost fell off.

Then I got ready for the slide.  Here I am at the top, ready to go down...

...wheee!  That was fun!  Have you been to a playground lately?

Walk in the woods

The weather was beary nice today so I went for a walk in the woods.  I thought of Little Fox and of all his beautiful hiking photos.  It was so much fun that I think I need to do more outdoor exploring.  I took my mom along also since she needs to exercise more.

On my walk, I spotted a bird perched on a tree branch high above.  As I got closer, it flew away.

Then I climbed a tree.  I guess bears can climb trees, so if you ever run into a mean bear, climbing a tree does not guarantee your safety.

Then I saw a beary unusual tree.  Look at how the trunk is bent.  Something must have happened to it, but it still kept on growing.  I thought it was the most interesting and beautiful tree in the forest.

I stopped on a bridge and saw a nice little stream.  Hmm, I wonder if there are any fish in that stream.

New buds were forming on the tree branches.  I guess spring is finally here!

Then I inspected a tree hole for any possible signs of a beehive, but all I saw was a "vacancy" sign inside the hole.  I guess the bees just moved out.

It was really nice to get back to nature and back to my roots.  I was feeling beary bear-like so I let out a loud, ferocious GROWL into the forest.  The trees rattled and the earth shook.  The squirrels and the birds scampered away.

Finally, before heading home, I checked out a picnic table for any tasty scraps, but it seemed that the humans here are beary good about cleaning up after themselves.

Fruit

I think everyone knows how much I love honey and fish.  But I also love other foods, especially fruit, and I was beary lucky to find some delicious fruit lying on the kitchen counter today.  My mom asked me to make a nice fruit arrangement so I got straight to work.

Here is a mango...

I made a smiley fruit face...

Some pears and clementines would be nice...

Mmm I can't wait to eat some of this...

My fruit arrangement is nearly done, but I think it's still missing something...

Ah yes, a watermelon!

Ergh, this is heavy...

Doesn't this look good?