Hey, I'm scared of bears too! Forgot about that. I think the best way to deal with them is to make a certain amount of noise, so they can hear you from a long way off...a bell, singing, whatever...they hear you and go the other way and you don't meet them unexpectedly. I think I may just have had a nasty encounter with a bear in one or more "previous" lives, if you know what I mean.

Liz - you're scared of a silent room??? My God, woman, how will you ever meditate and get in touch with your inner self if the damn radio and TV are going all the time? If I had a TV here, I'd shoot it and give it a decent burial in the back yard. As for the radio, it makes a good paperweight for my sheet music.

Oh, well, different strokes for different folks, I guess.