Many Bears Many Voices:
Early BBR Hard working Bears Photo from Andy Getz
From Dave
“I have experienced that from living communally, sharing basic human needs is love and that love becomes apparent and transfers equally between one another. I know that sharing is a natural gift we have for each other; I live this way at Black Bear Ranch, simply because it makes me happy.
When I come to Black Bear Ranch- I am immediately propelled into this wonderful community of sharing. The atmosphere makes as if it’s the most natural way of being, as if it is our first nature to share with one another.
It is my pleasure to live and preserve this way of living.”
Below Photo Taken By Janjaap- Forrest & Karuna on BBR Kitchen Stove 1979-1980
From Thatch
“Black Bear is a place for one to reinvent themselves, discover themselves and add to themselves. The solitude of the mountain valley, the sound of nature all about, morning noon and night, lend tranquility and peace to daily life. It can be anything one desires it to be…a great visiting destination; a place to learn new “old” skills; or simply a home. Meeting new people from all walks of life and discovering that they become your family is a remarkable experience many people never get to see. Young and old alike come together to share all aspects of daily living and create this sharing and caring atmosphere. This is what makes Black Bear so special. We call it the “Spirit” and it is…….it’s the lifeblood of the ranch”.
From Allegra
What is Black Bear to you
“Black Bear is sacred to me
Birth place
Heart place
where I go most often in my dreams
Black Bear is in me down deep
I bleed Black Bear each month
I wear scars of Black Bear
on my fingers my toes my chin
I am Black Bear
though I no longer liver there in body
in spirit I am always there
Black Bear is so familiar
yet I can go there and discover
things I’ve never known
Black Bear is my home
among many homes
We are a family spread across the earth
connected by a place deep in the mountains
a place deep in our hearts
called Black Bear”
From Kristina
My big time favorite memory, that dances in my mind and tangible anytime is: Tiger’s Milk. Cold Cold sweet nutritious Tiger’s Milk; on a hot day, on a rainy day, on a cold day, on any day will make it a good day. Legend is that the eldest bear brought a special tiger from a far far away land, the tiger made its home in the larder, where she enjoyed sharing her milk. When she became too old to produce milk she passed down the following recipe:
Ingredients:
1 quart Bell Canning jar w/ matching lid (hopefully you can find a match)
3 tbl carob
1 tbl molasses
Small splash of vanilla
Dash of cinnamon
1 tbl star brewer’s yeast (nutritional yeast)
Goats’ milk
To quart jar add the carob, molasses, cinnamon, yeast, vanilla and lastly fill the jar with fresh goats’ milk. Screw on the lid really tight and shake, shake, shake until all ingredients blend, the milk top is frothy and the taste is just right, not quite right add to your liking.
much love
Painting by Sarah Hugdahl
From Sarah Hugdahl
I painted that woman within a bear with my baby Miles and the place I was pregnant and birthed in mind and with the one I ran away from Black Bear in mind as well. Mt Shasta is in there, the mama mountain I still revere. I left BBR after only a year and a half and followed my heart but it was a blissful year and a half. I thought I would live “that way” forever but what I did was carry the lessons I learned there with me on my life journey. I never let go of trying to partake in other peoples’ childrens’ lives when they crossed paths with mine. I never stopped trying to pass the rattle to people who needed encouragement to be heard. I never stopped trying to make where I lived into an open and caring home and I never stopped being involved with the community I lived in. All this I learned at BBR and much much more.
I have to mention also the woodperson’s skills I learned, not to mention the feminista awakened within – cooking for a crew of people who’d been cutting wood all day, splitting that wood into kindling that would start a fire in a gianormous stove. Canning and drying tons of food I’d help grow, milking and cheesemaking, etc. I know things at the Ranch are always in flux. Its an ongoing social experiment up there. Whoever is living there makes it what it is and I was blessed by living with people who were devoted to living on the land, raising each others children and working things out as best we could. Thank you BBR and the people I still love from there. Still living a dream but from a solid footing.