Bear Moon Rising

"They call me Antsy, a name I rightly hate. My real name is Anslem. See Anslem was some old philosophy guy that my Dad Hank thinks was pretty cool." With these words we enter the life of a child of ex-flower children when the mildew is on the rose. His family, after leaving a commune, find that it is far easier to drop out than to drop back in to a world, a world they didn't make, don't understand and are woefully unequipped to deal with. Having switched from a disastrous attempt at pot growing to establishing a vineyard of varietal grapes, their life is approaching what for them is normal. The plot thickens when Antsy, Running Moccasin and Moose become involved in trying to save a remnant population of believed-to-be extinct California Grizzlies from a pair of murderous brothers and their employer. The family is decent and loving, but woefully unprepared for the things life throws at them. There is the mother, Essie Colensky, an ex-athlete moving from Judaism to Wiccanism, the father, Hank Cunningham, a former pot grower and born-again agnostic, oldest child "Starbright" Naomi, a high IQ jock and born-again Christian, oldest son Antsy, a budding visual artist and a bundle of testosterone, and youngest son Kahlil "Running Moccasin" a tracker, naturalist, and Indian wanna-be. Among the other characters are Grampaw Coleman, purveyor of motel art and predatory business man, Bubbe Wanda, a former centerfold, not your typical "milk and cookies" grandmother, "Moose " Majors, a huge game warden and Moe "Irish" Noodleman, a sometimes professional wrestler. along for the ride are a group of thought-to-be extinct California Grizzlies and Carlos, a talented but burnt out painter, long on skills and short on brain cells. The book has much humor, some adventure and an attitude of tolerance and love.