SAANICH -- On a bench overlooking the scenic Gorge waterway, there’s a bear. It's plush bear that’s as big as a small human.
If you ask passersby about the bear, some will worry for the child who may have left it behind, while others will scorn the person who may have left it as litter.
But if you ask Rob (pulling out his phone to take a picture of it) why there’s a bear on the bench, he’ll answer, “Why not?”
“It’s a beautiful location, overlooking the water,” Rob gestures to the stuffie and the surrounding scenery. “This bear’s got it made in the shade!”
Rob then continues his walk along the water and I start to get footage of the flowers the bear is facing.
“The plot thickens!” Rob proclaims as he returns back to the bear. “Down yonder on the next bench!”
On the next bench over, perhaps 100 metres away, a small plush bunny is sitting solo.
“I think there is something going on with the bunny and the bear!” Rob smiles. “But I don’t know what it is.”
Rob doesn’t have time to investigate, but Ashley and Emily – who I meet walking by the bunny – do.
“I don’t think they’ve met yet,” Emily says, imagining what’s happening between the bear and bunny. “But I think they’re checking each other out!”
Despite the bear looking big and bold, perhaps it’s actually ‘un-bear-ably’ shy. Despite seeming cool and confident, perhaps the rabbit thinks ‘no-bunny’ would like it.
“But it’s ‘hopping’ in it’s mind that the bear would hurry up and come over,” Ashley smiles.
Hope is one thing, action is another. The sisters set out to become matchmakers for the single stuffies.
“Alright! Come on dude,” Ashley says after walking over to the bear, picking it up, and returning to the bunny’s bench. “You’re going to meet your love connection today.”
Bear, meet bunny. Bunny, meet bear.
“I think he made some very cheesy pick-up line,” Ashley smiles, looking at the bear sitting on the same bench as the bunny. “As much as the bunny thinks it’s cheesy, they fell for it like that!”
And after that? Perhaps the bunny and bear would strive for long-lasting love like Lily and Ted, a couple we see passing by.
The couple says they’ve been married for more than 61 years.
Lily and Ted say opposites can attract. In fact, they can compliment each other and make each other even better together.
But then Ted raises a concern about the bunny and bear, if they want to survive 61 years together. “There’s a discrepancy in size,” he laughs. “One of them better watch out when the roll over in bed!”
“They’ll get crushed!” Lily adds with an even bigger laugh.
Practical advice for a couple that can’t seem to ‘bear’ to be apart.