WELL. Had about the scariest day of my life. Was out for a walk with 6yo DD when a polar bear (maybe a white Malamute or Great Pyrenees; if memory serves, it was the size of my house) ran snarling up to us and circled us, snapping and growling. I put myself between it and DD but it kept circling to get at her. I just kept turning and turning, not making eye contact, keeping my kid pressed against me. Little twig of a woman eventually hustled around the corner and tried coaxing it away with food (she had no leash!), but it ignored her. Finally she came up to us, tried to shove the food into DD's hands (!) saying "Do you want to feed him?" and I said "Please just take your dog away." She withdrew to the side of the road. It was so surreal. I was hoping a car would drive by, but nothing.

Finally the dog walked over to the woman, but as soon as DD and I started moving from where it'd had us, it charged back over. She lured it back again, and I got DD into a neighbor's yard, thinking I could yell for help and try their door if it came at us again (maybe risk getting shot for breaking into their house, but at least get something between the dog and DD)! It didn't come at us again, fortunately.

So I'm rattled and afraid to leave my house, especially with the daycare kids on Monday. We'll definitely be playing only in the fenced-in yard, no walks. I've reached out to the heads of the HOA to see if we can identify the owner and find out whether they live here or are just here for the holiday.

But now I'm thinking I need to have pepper spray when we're outside. And maybe something else? It's legal to carry an expandable baton with a training course in my state, and I can't believe I just looked that up.

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