Sometimes it seems to this small bear that all the news is bad. I know this could not be true, but it is hard to tell it from the news reports. Since this small bear prefers to focus on the positive, I am always on the lookout for good news stores. I find it especially heartening and exciting to read a story reporting the heroism of one of our kind. I have decided that if I am lucky enough to find this kind of story, I will memorialize it here for all my friends to read!!!!

Tot falls, but teddy bear saves his life

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dubuque, Iowa--A little brown teddy bear is being credited with saving the life of a 2-year-old boy who fell from a second-story window.

Logan Newcom was holding the bear as he played hide-and-seek with another child. As Logan hid behind the blinds covering an open window, the pins holding the screen came loose, and he fell through, police said.

He landed on the bear on the lawn outside but was not seriously injured.

This story was sent to us by Sir Kerby, who is obviously a very literary bear. It is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the London Times on an unknown date about a very fun sounding event. We're sorry we missed it and are very proud to call Sir Kerby our friend!

...there's a teddy bear's picnic organized at Belvoir Castle for next Sunday.

This is now an annual affair, last year attracting 5,500 furry friends and 2,000 owners. And inevitably there have been inquiries from interested bears (those that can put pen to paper, that is).

For instance, here is an extract from a teddy bear in Pleasanton, California, named Kerbie (his spelling, or rather that of the human helping him with the letter, is a bit erratic--he refers to 'Kerbie' and signs himself 'Kerby'). He had read about the event on a folder put out by the British Tourist Authority and would like to know more about the 'affare' ("or is is affair?")

"So bear with me, I mean bare with me," says Kirbie. "My mistress Mrs Bobbie Wood doesn't know I'm writing this. Her husband Robert Wood wants to surprise her, so I'm stuck trying to type this in the dark...please excuse."

There will be three humans and himself coming to the picnic, he explains, and as the Woods are bring their 14-year-old grandson this will be a low-cost trip. Kerbie asks for details of somewhere to stay ("not too fancy") at the week-end.

After apologizing for his typing maneuvers in the dark with a "Whoops, darn paws!", the bear rounds off his letter:

"Well, 'nuf questions, and Mr. W. has dropped the dictionary again so I'll close, hoping to hear from you soon. PS: Please send any answer in a plain envelope...nothing about bears on it, OK?"

What you might call a bearfaced demand for the bear facts.

Recently it has come to my attention that stuffed people including bears may be in danger from those of the feline persuasion!!! Our friend Cecilia sounded the alarm first when she gave the following article to Alice:

Stealing Away--For one cat burglar, too much is never enough.

It all started with a pink powder puff: On Valentine’s Day 1990, Cilla Karmel, a fine-art publisher, spotted the mysterious artifact near the staircase of her home in Tunbridge Wells, England. Neither she nor husband Martin recognized the object, and "I couldn’t understand where it came from," says Cilia.

The mystery was solved when her neighbor, a Mrs. Rowntree, appeared at the Karmels’ door. Mrs. Rowntree, it seemed, had come to reclaim her puff, which she had last seen in the possession of the Karmels’ Burmese cat, Minnimore. "She caught him red-handed as he was escaping with it in his mouth, "recalls Cilia, 53.

The Karmels decided that the puff had merely been a cat love offering. With time, however, it became clear that Minnimore had a problem: Not only did he return to the Rowntree home to brazenly steal stuffed animals, he also targeted another neighbor. "He stole poor Margo’s fur hat," says Martin, 64, a retired banker.

In the seven years since, the klepto-kitty—who favors houses with open windows or cat flaps—has pinched more than 160 items, including feather dusters, bedroom slippers and evening gloves. His avarice, it seems, is boundless. "One night we heard this terrible banging. It was Minnimore, struggling to push an enormous jersey [sweater] three times his size through the flap," reports Cilia.

Celebrated in the papers and on British TV, the cat burglar has been examined by an animal psychologist who reports that he is simply acting out his need to hunt. Efforts to curb him with foul-smelling decoys have been only partially successful; the Karmels still knock on doors with a basket of loot so neighbors can reclaim stolen goods, Fortunately, most are fond of Minnimore. "You can call me a victim," says teddy bear collector Tricia Smith, "but I’m really one of his admirers."

This small bear cannot help but wonder how Tricia would feel if she was one of the cat’s victims. Since Minnimore lives in England, I felt no sense of alarm until I received this report from some beanie friends on the troubling behavior of Puff, our friend Cindy’s cat:

Puff kitty tends to bully beanies so he is not our favorite kitty. Why the other day he SAT on a beanie!!!!<shock> He is also know to be a thief of shiny things, so we beanies have learned to keep our treasures hidden from him!!

I suppose this could all be an incredible coincidence but, in case it is not, I urge all people, stuffed and human people to be on their guard against similar kitten behavior!

If you know of a story that would fit on this page, please send me an e-mail. <grateful small bear>

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