Earthfire Institute

Many of you acquainted with Humble Bumble the grizzly bear know the story of this gentle giant and his terror of an egg; of the world being too much for him; of his fear of anything new. But I am here to report progress! We moved him to spacious new quarters this summer, a bear palace of a sort with a private swimming pool. His adjustment to the new space took some time – it was so big and so new. But his is a story about a creature’s ability to change, however slowly, at his own pace.

We thought he might enjoy the pool right away, but it was rather overwhelming. After a few weeks he would gingerly swipe at the water, standing safely at the edge. During the summer we would hear splashing sounds, always hoping it was Humble Bumble daring to take a swim – but when we went to see, he would be entertaining himself by splashing the water from terra firma. Over the next several weeks there were increasingly loud sounds of splashing – but it was always just his paws that were wet. The rest of him remained dry. Then, three months after he moved in to his new home, we heard a very large splash. By the time we got there Humble Bumble was standing safely on solid ground. But this time he was dripping wet! We weren’t sure – had he fallen in and “saved” himself? We could swear there was a look of pride and delight on his bear face. We couldn’t be sure. But it happened again and then again. We never caught him actually in the pool but it became clear he had not fallen in by accident.

At six years old, Humble Bumble had overcome his fear of water . . . in his own time and in his own way. We could have easily said he was hopeless (when he was a baby it took him 20 minutes to drain a bottle that other bears could drain in 30 seconds), but we have learned, with both humans and animals, that given a chance, they will blossom in their own time, in their unique way. With the new space and stimulating company, Humble Bumble is coming into his own.

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Humble Bumble and the Pool

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