Stockton is “going on a bear hunt”

There’s a new craze in town, and it can be traced to the coronavirus. Some of you may have noticed there are teddy bears in windows of homes and businesses around town, or have heard about it and wondered what’s going on. Actually, it is just one more by-product of the social distancing thing we are all trapped in right now.

One of the few things that hasn’t been shut down is the great outdoors. In fact, we are urged to get outdoors, get some exercise, and get away from the constant barrage of bad news. So with the nice early spring weather we are enjoying, it’s a great thing for families to go out on a walk. People are placing bears in their windows or on their porches, so that when others are out walking, they look for bears, counting to see how many they can find.

Placing the bears in windows was inspired by the children’s book, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” by Michael Rosen.

Would this little silliness have started without the pandemic? Probably not. But we all need some distractions from the this mess, and if it’s teddy bears sitting in windows, well, that doesn’t take much to join in.

This popular COVID-distraction is also sponsored by social media, because Facebook and other social media is filled with accounts from people in towns all over the country who are now going on bear hunts. They share pictures of their bears, sitting in the windows of their homes.

If you don’t already have a teddy bear in your window, now you might feel the urge to dig in the closet or a toybox to find one.