How Grizzly Bears Can Keep You Calm

Many of us are horrified at the possibility of a second Trump presidency.

The Middle East is a tragic Rubik’s cube with little prospect of immediate solution.

The threat to birth control, the cost of housing, climate change—there’s plenty of things to worry about.

Shakespeare realized that unremitting tragedy is best served with occasional servings of Falstaff-style levity.  Winston Churchill famously cautioned during England’s darkest World War II days, Keep Calm and Carry On.

Finding Serenity in Nature's Wonders

When I feel twisted too tightly. I mine the Internet for its remarkable ability to make me smile, to balance the ugly with the beautiful, to see the wonders of nature and brilliance and foibles of humanity beyond the headlines.

An article in the Washington Post about grizzly bears started me on this type of therapy. 

In Alaska’s Katmai National Park bears gather during the summer to gorge on the annual salmon run. The Park Service has installed cameras to show the action, live, to anyone who goes to the web site. Thousands do. In fact, so many are regulars, there’s a robust chat room where viewers recognize individual bears, give them names and critique their behavior.

I lived in Alaska for many years and had my own encounters with live grizzlies (not recommended). The Washington Post article about all this had personal appeal. Now and then I go to the Katmai National Park website during the peak of the salmon run (now) and check out the action. You can, too. Here’s the URL: Brown Bear Salmon Cam

The bears are not always there, and even when they are certain camera angles won’t show them. So, have a bit of patience. Even without the grizzlies, the Alaska scenes are worth the clicks.

Diversions Beyond Grizzlies

If grizzlies aren’t your thing, look for the panda bears. They’re available in zoos cams all over the world. At the right times of day you can even see them in China’s Wolong Grove Panda Yard: Panda Cam.

One of my favorite Internet diversions is to the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. It’s a treasure chest of live cameras—penguins, sharks, jellyfish, kelp forest and more: Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Cams.

High-Flying Escapes

In my It’s Always Something musings (10/26/23 I Flew With The Blue Angels and Didn’t Throw Up) I recalled backseat riding while my Blue Angels pilot climbed, dove and barrel-rolled for my amusement and terror. If you want to experience flight from the cockpit of Blue Angel and Air Force Thunderbird pilots flying together over New York City, here it is: Blue Angels Cockpit View.

And then there’s space flight and the amazing NASA.gov web site. A person can likely get an advanced degree in many related scientific subject areas just by spending time on this site, it’s so comprehensive and accessible. But I go there to watch the live action. The space walks and other activity, all of which is announced in advance. Go to NASA Live and click the “live” icon in the page’s upper righthand corner.

YouTube, TikTok,—how many video options are there? Millions, I’d imagine. Funny animals and kids. People doing goofy stuff. Language learning. How-tos. Visuals of places and things most of us would never see, seen differently than in produced films and documentaries.

One more video. A short clip of a five-year-old pianist playing Mozart. I find it unbelievable and inspiring. You will, too. I promise.

The news brought to us by professional journalists is important to our lives and our way of life. No question. But there’s so much to experience beyond the immediate headlines. And it takes only a few keystrokes to go there. 

Comments? Criticism? Contact Joe Rothstein at jrothstein@rothstein.net