summer campfire

After our family hiking event we came back to our house for a grill out. fired up the grill, put on the hotdogs, chicken and corn on the cob. My grill is very full. lol! sent the girls out in the woods to collect sticks for marshmallows...- The neighbors dog starts barking - they came back rather quick. They spotted yet another mountain lion! This one smaller than the one P saw a couple of months ago. Closer too, apparently. P said it's eyes are green. That's close. So, we build a fire. That should keep the wildlife at bay. We finish grilling, eat... Mmmm! 'twas good. The girls go inside for a bit.. they want to play with P's guitars. So the adults are left to ourselves. A new neighbor notices our fire... So I'm neighborly and invite her over. She and her son ( early 20's) come over. She brings her own dixie cup full of beer. She's already had a few we think. We all chat a bit. we tell her to keep an eye on her dog. we have a big kitty or two in the area. She sits on one of the benches, her son continues to stand. I think he's embarrassed of her. I offer then food..they refuse - they just finished dinner. then she spills my tiki lantern that was on the bench next to her on the ground. I got up and stomp out the flames. Put the tiki farther from her... They leave shortly after this. Guess they realize the big blue cooler doesn't have beer. and there are a lot of pepsi cans around! As it's getting dark the girls come back outside. we are all talking about the hike, the cat, future plans... one of the neighbors dogs start barking again... We all start looking up the hill and around in the darkness. Suddenly something is crashing through the underbrush towards us coming from the side yard! This is no cat.. not graceful at all! Everyone stands up, the guys grab large sticks.. and we all stand closer to the fire. We think it's a bear. It notices the fire and us in it's path because it veers off and up the hillside. We can hear it skirting around us and up the hill. The dog is still going crazy. The guys throw a few rocks up the hill into the dark to keep it going away. After a few minutes everything settles down. All is quiet again. I realize I am hold my small survival knife.. I was using it on the hiking trip earlier today. Put it back in my pocket. We all stand around talking for a bit longer. D & D decide they'd better get home by now any way. it's an hour drive back to their house. The girls will be tired and cranky tomorrow if they don't sleep. They will all have a lot to talk about in school on Monday. lol!