It's So Hanna-Barberaesque

Mise en scene: The shallows of some lake in northern Minnesota by which the madcap ursine trio known as the Hair Bear Bunch have set up the latest iteration of Camp Volkswagen during their ursine mating season road trip, their annual exercise in madcap mating adventures such as help them feel relaxed.

Our attention this time is on Hair Bear and the juvenile ursine bundle of energy known as Bubi Bear ... who. going back to the Wonderland Zoo days of the trio, were quite the pair of teacher and pupil impromptu in many a misadventure of escaping from their zoo confines under the noses of Zookeepers Lionel Botch and Eustis Peevly, continuing onward after the zoo's shock closing and their finding comfort and freedom at their Secret Surf and Dive Spot bivouac outside Malibu, with the annual road trip during the ursine mating season adding some variety to their escapades.

Now to our scene: In their ursine nakedness most unashamed, teacher and pupil waded in the lake's shallows on a hazy and muggy summer's day such as was bound to find some incentive to go diving in the lake, a rather clear and crystalline such promising to have its share of clean coolness no bear could resist.

"You know, Bubi," Hair Bear remarked in waters roughly chest high to an average bear, "you can never become too bored when you're diving underwater." Prompting Bubi to remark "Oh, what could actually be so excitably exciting, just me in my own nakedness swimming around and feeling so fine all along!"

"Good explanation there, Bubi," remarked Hair Bear, patting Bubi on the head. "Now let's get into diving mode!", followed by some deep breathing to maintain their descent ... and then, the descent into said lake, which, all in all, was about 30 feet deep maximum. Such bulk of the ursine sort assured Hair and Bubi of an easy descent, and with no need for masks thanks to bears having an uncanny ability to see underwater with their own eyes only, the view underwater couldn't help but be even more fascinating than they ever expected.

Schools of game fish galore like walleye. bass and muskies were quick to make their presence known to our ursine class of a kind, swimming along the lake bottom and sensing the sway of lake grasses with the flow of water from underground springs, grasses proving attractive to Hair and Bubi for a few moments' underwater enchantment made especially evident by just laying back in such underwater lushness and wonder of lake grasses otherwise uncompromised by the likes of curly leaf pondweed and duckweed. O, to be a bear underwater fully naked and at once underwater and fascinated by the feeling!

At any rate, teacher and pupil had to return to the surface to catch their breath and get things prepared, among other things, for the evening's orgy exercise; a smooth and steady ascent was more or less the rule, the sunlight dappling its way through the lake's waters and adding its own sort of magic to the proceedings. Once back on the surface--

"Bubi--?"

"That's the clyde you're asking about, Hair?"

"Did you notice something a little delightful between your legs when we were underwater in the patch of aquatic grass?"

"And didn't you also experience much the same thing--as in some underwater wood?"

"Rather surprising we noticed as much, Bubi," Hair Bear confidently remarked; "it seems we can't help but become so aroused and at once fasconated underwater!"

Bubi: "And what a release into the lake we must've had, what a show most wonderfully fascinating!"

"Bubi, teacher as I am to you all this time, it will fascinate you to know that we had serious erections of our penises underwater ... and doesn't it feel fascinating to feel good with the world when you're underwater like we can get to be at times?"

"I never knew the clyde diving could do such a thing!"

"For some reason," Hair Bear remarked, "it happens to the best fo us ... and what could be a more delightful way of showing that all's feeling as good as it can get ... nothing could get better than this, I say!"

The two had a warm and wholehearted bear hug about it mixed with chuckling and laughs as teacher and student prepated for another such dive.

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As in being named PADI AmbassaDivers™, a select group of divers in the several diving disciplines committed to promoting the diving experience in their communities and the world over.

Just tubing down the Apple River on the July 4th weekend

Whether it was Huckleberry Hound or yours truly as came up with the notion of having your Hanna-Barbera pantheon tubing on the Apple River to fill space (and kill holiday weekend time) between Lake City Water Ski Days and Robbinsdale Whiz Bang Days, and the relevant Character Convocations, is probably moot ... but when all was said and done, what could have been a more fascinating gathering of our Funtastic confraternity, and the modus operandi therefor, than to go tubing down the celebrated Apple River around Somerset, Wisconsin?

Even with glass and polystyrene containers now forbidden, it was smoother sailing with recyclable aluminum and plastic such ... and you could just imagine all the cooler floats as were recruited to serve our several parties and keep things refreshed among us. And with the weekend being as warm as it was, not to mention feeling muggy and borderline uncomfortable, who could imagine the relief ensuing from the river's coolness, excusing an occasional dunking into same with our bodies?

Who could just picture the likes of Emmy Lou and Jenny Lee ... Penelope Pitstop ... Daphne and Velma from Scooby's crew ... Kitty Jo from the Cattanooga Cats ... even Sheena the Lioness and Raquel Wrench in rather cool-looking one-piece tankini suits while riding repurposed, upcycled even, innertubes floating lazily along? Not to mention The Banana Splits improvising over bananas (how else?) and sharing chatter with fellow tubers; in fact, many of us fellow Funtastics were pretty much of the kind fond to share conversations laden with memories and nostalgia, as well as plenty of the old ja-ba-da most animated (pun not intended!) as greatly broke quite the ice on a muggy summer's afterlunch.

Even Top Cat and clowder, with their back-alley backgrounds of Brooklyn and Hollywood, were rather surprised by the country background of the whole milieu, and trying not to conceal their anxiety at such an experience as innertubing on the most legendary of rivers in this respect, the Apple. Brain, in particular, couldn't help but control his surprise, remarking over some blood orange soda "Isn't this fascinating?!"

Even more fascinating: Bass Lake Cheese Factory, exemplar most interesting of the old-school, small-time cheese factories which, back in the day, epitomised the legendary cheeses such as Wisconsin was known for ... enough so that, at one time, there was a law requiring restaurants serving a slice of cheese-topped apple pie with any meal as cost 50¢ or more! And you could just imagine many of us stocking up on their nine-year-old Cheddar, said to be of exceptional taste and repute for even sophisticated lions like yours truly, and pretty much everyone else among us ...

What could feel more refreshing heading into Robbinsdale Whiz Bang Days, our next such Convocation, details to follow hence?

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