Monday, January 14, 2008

Bear Traps

Many of you know this story, but there are still some of you who don't know why our blog is named Bear Traps and Road Maps. We chose the road maps part because we love to travel and hope to travel more in the future. We are going on a cruise with family this summer to Alaska. Not too sure yet how to feel about being in water- my number one fear- but who is going to pass up alaska. I will just wear a permanent life jacket at all times (hee hee). So that is how we came up with road maps. Bear traps came about not too long after Bart and I had been married. Here is Bart's favorite moment since we have been married, or what he likes to call his finest moment in life.

We were living in Waco, Texas and decided on a Saturday to take a drive on some of the back roads to see the wildflowers. As we were driving, I noticed these little blue boxes attached to fences on properties. Finally, I see a B on one of the boxes and don't understand what they are. The conversation went like this:
T: "What are those boxes?"
B: "They are bear traps"
T: "Bear traps? There are bears in Texas? Why do they need those traps?"
B: "To keep bears off their properties and from eating their livestock"
T: "Well, how do they work?"
B: "See how those boxes are long and narrow, like mailboxes? See how they have the small hole in the front? What the ranchers do is put honey at the back of those boxes and when the bear reaches in to get the honey, a wire bar smacks the bear on the nose"

At this point I became irrate. The thought of being deceitful enough to put honey to lure the bears in angered me. I was raging about calling my senator, writing animal rights groups, and protesting Texans. The whole time, Bart is looking sympathetic and agreeing with me. We drove for about 20 minutes with me fuming and making comments every few seconds. After about 20 minutes, I am looking out my window and see the "supposed bear trap" with writing on the side. However, it does NOT say bear trap, it says Bee Trap.

T: "Hey, wait a minute. That box said bee trap."

At this point I turn to Bart but all I see from him are tears, dimples, and uncontrollable laughter.
Nice, huh? There are times in this marriage where people would question why we are married. Even though this isn't my brightest moment I have to say it is fun to be in a marriage where we can play and tease each other. Believe me, I have returned the favor to Bart and it shouldn't be too long before you see another prank appearing on our blog. Enjoy everyone!

1 comment:

MomP said...

No matter how many times I hear(read) this story, I smile. But I as a volunteer at the zoo am glad that my daughter wanted to stand up for the bear's rights!