The Grizzly and the Fire Spirit

02 / Know

Know the Story

The door opened, and a mountain man walked in from the snow.

The Grizzly and the Fire Spirit tells exactly what happened when Sharna and I met Doc at the Matador in Santa Fe during a 1999 road trip—and he bestowed the grizzly claw he had guarded upon her.

Whether you believe in spirits or not, it happened.

What happened

In 1999, Sharna and I were traveling through Santa Fe when we stopped for a few beers at the Matador, a local dive bar. It was growing dark and snowing outside when the door swung open. Standing there, dressed from head to toe in animal skins, was a mountain man with a rifle and gunny sack over his shoulder.

He threw his gear into the corner, shook the snow from his shoulders and sat beside us. His name was Doc.

Over the next few hours, Doc told us about traveling the world in search of treasure. His journeys had even taken him to the opal mines around Alice Springs, where he had fallen in love with ‘Aussie Rules’ football—explained to us in the best worst Australian accent I had heard.

By the end of the night, Doc confessed that he believed our meeting had not happened by chance. He had carried a grizzly claw for years, but said it had never belonged to him. He was its guard. His duty was to protect it until the Spirit of the Bear revealed the person worthy of receiving it.

Doc said he had been drawn down from the mountain because she was near. The moment he sat beside Sharna, he knew his search was over.

Sharna tried to refuse the claw. She had no money to offer him and did not believe she deserved something he had guarded for so long. Doc told her it was not his to sell—or even his to give. He was only there to deliver it to its rightful owner.

Then he bestowed the claw upon her.

Everything in the song happened. The photograph shows Doc, Sharna and me together at the Matador that night. Whether you believe in spirits or not, the encounter was real.

03 / Feel

Feel the Soul

What I want you to feel

Whether Doc was guided by a spirit, instinct or something neither of us could explain, he walked into the Matador carrying a claw he had guarded for years—and walked out believing he had finally found its rightful owner. The photograph proves the meeting. The song preserves what was said.