Mystery Solved?

Where are the Bears?

This question has plagued me since I moved here in October. I thought that these woods would be full of Bears. There are plenty of Bears here, but they aren't bellying up to the bars.

This morning in the shower, I was thinking about Nightingale. What a hell of a man. He's hairy, he has a beautiful beachball. He's brilliant on the job, and takes pride in his work. He and his oldest son are always surprising each other with gifts of a great bottle of wine or good cigars. He's devoted to his family. He's just a good man.

And, y'know... a heterosexual man.

So where are his homosexual equivalents?

Hmmm.

I started reflecting back on my own experience growing up here in Bucks County. It was a really easy place to be a gay kid. I got a job in Mother's Restaurant down in New Hope, and there I met well-adjusted, self-accepting, happy adult gay men. So I never had those thoughts of being 'the only one.'

But guess what? By and large, those gay men were the ranks of the sweater-clad and low-slung italian loafer wearing. There were certainly acceptions, but by and large, fabulous dinner parties with salacious gossip concerning deceased movie actresses was the norm.

Early on, this was the behavior I imitated. This, I thought, was the way to be gay.

Until a friend of my sister's, Kevin, who I admired and respected, and looked up to so much, literally took me aside and told me... not quite to butch up my act, but to be my own man. That being a man was actually a great thing, and there was no reason to try to run away from that.

So where would I be save Kevin's intervention? I bet I'd be sitting in the Raven drinking appletinis and bitching about my job at All About Throw Pillows.

So maybe that's it. The locals here--and they're all locals--adapt themselves to the Ways of the Tribe. And those ways aren't Bear ways.

So maybe those Bear-inclined younger gay men get the heck out while they can. Or start collecting Erte figurines.

Maybe I should give it a shot at seeking out those Bears who stayed. Put up some posters inviting Bucks County Bears to come to a mixer of sorts. And not at the Raven. But perhaps at the Starbucks in Doylestown. Just, y'know, getting together for coffee. And when the weather is better we can take over the porch from the juvenile delinquent wannabes and smoke cigars.

Huh.

Worth a shot, I guess.

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