I know you and I both kind of see nature as kind of a meditation experience. Have you had any spirit like interactions? I have. So in 1997 I had the incredible opportunity to work as an exploration geologist in Alaska. And part of what I got to do is I got to live in a base camp on an abandoned runway. On the North Slope of the Brooks Range in the Brooks Range is the northernmost mountain range in Alaska.

It's very remote. We're about 140 miles north and slightly east of Kotzebue, which is the most the largest northern village in Alaska for natives. And so, we were on this vast, vast landscape for three weeks So, what I noticed when we were out there is that after about the third day of being in nature like that, you know, you're kind of away from technology is that you, you slip into the groove and the vibe of nature. And so it's in constant motion, but it's never in a hurry. And I noticed that it started to affect everybody that we worked with. And so even some of the most analytical, highly trained geologists, which are really like, you know, right brain guys, they were saying, like, wow, this is pretty spiritual place up here, don't you think?

So it's like, You got it? Yeah, they got it. And so, so what would happen is that we kind of it I remember that when we slipped into that frame of mind that it changed our speech patterns. It changed what we talked about, it changed almost everything because we all slipped into this vibration with nature and And so what happened is that we were all going into this meditative state constantly 24 seven. And what started to happen is that the landscape and nature would start to interact with this. So like there's this this presence that is behind nature, and it will always let you know that it knows that you are there and will start to interact with you if you slow down and get into that vibe.

And so so for me, what I found out on that trip is that I was going to discover bear totems on that trip. So, you know, if you believe in the animal Totem things and so one thing that happened to me two things, but I'll tell you the first one is that like, third or fourth day, we were going out into the bush. I was waiting for my work partner to show up from Fairbanks. You know, we weren't allowed to work alone out in the bush and so weather was bad in Fairbanks, and he couldn't get into our landing site. And so I begged and pleaded, you know, because I don't want to sit in a camp all day to the rest of our crew, please just let me go out for the day and by myself, I'll be fine. You know, you guys will just be, you know, a quarter mile away, we'll be with the ear I shot we got radios, it's all cool.

You know, so let's just, and they so they, they said okay, fine. And so, as we're flying in and helicoptered into our work area, there's this gigantic grizzly bear. It's maybe within a couple miles of where we're going to work. That was no big deal. We were seeing them all the time. And so okay, there's a bear deeding over here when I pay attention, you know, keep it in the back of your mind, keep it on your radar.

And the bears pretty much left us alone. Whenever they got a sniff of us, they would take off. And so I go down. I get let off in this little drainage that goes into this river and the other geologists are on the river, maybe quarter mile away at the tops I could. I couldn't see him because I was down in this little drainage. I had about The banks were maybe 10 feet high.

And so what I did that morning, which is something I never did when I was working as a geologist, the first thing I did is I threw off my pack. And I started eating lunch, because I was hungry. So what happened that morning is that our camp cook made these like fresh brownies. And I know they're still warming my pack. Yeah, I couldn't start scarfing on my brownies. And I get a call on my headphone, or my my radio says, Hey, Joe, you know, there's a bear about a mile to the north, you know, I just want to give you a heads up, you know, no big deal.

You know, so it was that bear that we saw as the Big Bear. And I said, Okay, great, thanks. And then I threw my pack down, went back to matters of much more importance, and that was the brownies. That's I send their scarf and these brownies, you know, and then I hear, I don't know, maybe 30 seconds later on my radio says, Joe, it bears can we get the hell out of there now and so on. So we had shotguns so I grabbed my shotgun, left my pack there, scramble up onto this, this, this bank of this drainage, I look back over my shoulder and there is a bear standing there on between there's my pack down there and the bears up there and the bears looking with this real like no nonsense attitude of like I know no predators and I'm going to come eat you sort of look on his face.

And and so I kept saying myself Don't panic don't panic don't panic don't run so I turned and I walked away briskly you know feeling very naked, there's no like phone booth jump into upon the tundra, it's just you're out in the open, you know. And, and so what I didn't know is that the geologists that I was working with, watch this bear run about a mile and 90 seconds, and I figured it must have got it with my brownies or something. And so so as this bears running, the woman geologist is kind of she's kind of semi hysterical and the guide geologists was trying to maintain his composure and he pulls out a flare and reading the directions on how to use it as the bears running. So he didn't know how to use the flare. And so he's reading the directions, you know, it's bears getting closer and closer, I can't see it because I'm in the drainage and is going okay, unscrew cap, extend arm pole chain, you know, proof, this flare goes up, and it lands about 20 feet from the bear.

And the bear stops, looks around. And it realizes there's like three two legged people there. And so it kind of gives this look of Oh, this is really boring, and just kind of wanders off. So that's my that was my first experience of barren counter in Alaska I've had before and so I got the nickname of like bear man and camp. And one of the female geologists Schiff refused to work with me because she said, every time you go out you attract bears. And I did.

I was just Tracking bears wherever I went, unlike the rest of the crew. And so, so a few days later, did you always carry the brownies with you? No, I stopped carrying brownies. After that, I kind of learned my lesson on that one. So a few days later, this is a really weird experience is that so we tried to with the helicopters very daunting in the bush, you know, and so you really want you don't want to disturb wildlife, but we're seeing caribou and wolves and, and bears all over the place. And so we tried to be as gentle and has a cannon helicopter, which isn't very gentle.

And so one day I was done working and we're getting a ride back in the helicopter up this particular drainage and I wanted to take a look at where I was going to work the next day and just get a bird's eye view of it. So we fly up this drainage. And down below we see a sow, bear with the cub, and we were too close, scared the bears and they they went up the steepest part of this training over the ridge full speed, scared to death going up really, you know, we felt bad, you know, it felt bad we really kind of traumatize the bears in their own turf. And so go back to camp come out the next day. And I'm walking up as drainage where those bears were the day before and and it was steep, you know, it's like getting up towards the top there.

And I stopped in a pull up my water bottle and sit down for a minute and take a drink of water as I catch my breath. And I'm looking over on this rock, it's flat and kind of, you know, in the scree slope, and I'm looking at That's weird. What's that? And there's this little thing on there's about I don't know about three inches long. It looks like a giant lima bean. And so I picked it up and I thought Wow, that's really weird.

What is this? I thought I thought it was a like, a turkey gizzard that you get it? You know, you know, you know like a gizzard but why would a turkey gizzard be out here in the middle of nowhere, it's like, you know, it's fresh meat. It's not gonna last very long out here. Something we'll get it So it looked really fresh and so he took it home or took it back to base camp. And we got it under the microscope.

We had like a, you know, one of those fine ocular microscopes, and one of our tents and there's a bear fetus scared the scared the life out of the bear completely. And so I was the one that found it, of course, bear, bear man. And so we went down to the stream that night and buried it and gave it our blessing. So we felt kind of bad about that one. Yeah. It's terrible.

Yeah, it was just terrible. So I don't know. So I was attracting bears all over the place. So yeah. That was in the context of nature interacting with you. So yes, yes.