My Grandfather was a terrific gardener. Whenever we went to visit, we would always leave his house loaded with produce: avocados, cucumbers, melons--and tomatoes, of course. Beefsteak was his favorite, so I plant one every year in his memory.
On one memorable visit, we stayed overnight on our way to camp at King's Canyon in our VW camper van. My Grandpa handed us a huge grocery bag of avocados on our way out the door. That night, my parents slept in the van and I slept outside on a tarp in my sleeping bag. My parents had removed all of the food from the van and put it into the bear-proof storage locker. But they forgot about the sack of avocados. We were all headed for bed and they discovered the bag in the front seat. My dad took it out and put it on the ground a little way away from the van. I somehow managed to throw my tarp and sleeping bag down on the ground (in the dark) about five feet away from the sack of avocados. Sometime during the night, I awoke to the sound of rustling. I could only see a very large blob next to me. After a moment, I suddenly realized it was a bear chowing down on avocados--five feet away from me! I was too scared to move a muscle. I laid there with my heart pounding, hoping the bear would not notice me. And it didn't. As soon as it had eaten its fill, the bear ambled off in search of more food.
Here's a link to the live webcam out on the playa: http://www.ustream.tv/burningman
