This is Deputy Digby. Have you ever woke up on a day when you have something really big planned, and other things just get in the way of those plans? Like, have you had a pine cone fall on your head the size of a plate of all you can eat pancakes? That was just the start to our day today.
There we were. Finishing an early breakfast of eggies and toast. And we heard it. A loud bang on the roof of the motorhome that sounded like all the pinecones in Florida had decided to rain on our parade of heading to Jacksonville. As Boy Person went outside to investigate, he looked up and bam! Right on his head fell the biggest pine cone ever. On his head. But hey, at least it didn’t fall on his two noses. Yes, I said two noses. Appears like the healing of a frost bitten nose requires part of said nose to get bigger before the dead part falls off. And I am not rolling in none of that for once.
Or, maybe you have big plans for the day and you decide, hey, I am going to go for a run with my frost bitten nose before we start driving those five hours. Cause, you know, that is normal or whatever with a pine cone injury on your head as well. And then, you have a six foot long rattlesnake try to bite your Boy Person who has frost bite on his nose and is jogging thru trails with a mask on. Don’t fear the reaper they say. We don’t. We just fear giant pine cones, rattlesnakes and frostbite, y’all.
So. What do you do with all of these pine cones that seem to be trying to get in your way to that Jacksonville, Florida place so that you can look for a house with a yard? You embrace them. You try to find out what in the world they are trying to tell you for goodness sake. You stop. You look at them. And you wonder. Should I build a house out of pine cones? Is that what they are trying to tell us? Seems to me that would take a lot of planning to be able to do that properly. And it seems like it would not stand up to the wrath of a Florida hurricane. So…no. I don’t think that was it.
Or maybe. The pine cones were trying to tell us that we had been ignoring them all of our life. Sure, we had lived in this Florida place for a while and we saw them every day. But did we appreciate them? No. We didn’t really think about their lifecycle, how they grew other pine trees when they fell down, or how they fed animals with their pine nuts.
And now that we were back in this Florida place and too many other things were on our minds, we were not paying enough attention to them. We were also not paying attention to the tallest waterfall in Florida which is also a sinkhole, but hey, we can only have so many lessons in one day.
I mean, how can you pay attention to pine cones and waterfall sinkholes when a rattlesnake is going to bite you that is six foot long?
Sure, the rattlesnake was rattling, but when your Boy Person has frost bite on two noses and an injury from said pine cone, he starts wondering if the reaper is truly trying to get him. And he wondered. Maybe the lesson was that we had to gather up as many pine cones as possible and shake them. Play them like a cowbell, baby. We could warn others like the rattlesnake tried to warn Boy Person. Stay far away from us at all costs. Don’t fear the reaper. Fear the misfortunes of 2 Traveling Dogs. You see us coming, run. Run from the pine cones we will be playing like a cowbell. Baby.
But, as with all lessons, you can either take them or leave them. And today…pine cones? We would prefer that you stay in Chipley, Florida. If we need your lessons, we will summon you from that Jacksonville, Florida place when we get there. We don’t need you hitching a ride to fall on our heads or to call the rattlesnakes. We think that your value will be in staying put so that others can appreciate your beauty. It’s kinda like Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle. Appreciate his beauty from afar. Get too close and he will get ya!
So the day can only get better. And we are ready to start this last drive for a little while at least to that Jacksonville, Florida place. Are you coming with us? Please. No pine cones in your luggage. No pine cones in your pants. No pine cones on your head. You will be checked at the door.
Let’s do this!
-Deputy Digby Pancake
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Maybe boy person felt the need to run…..you know, out run the reaper….then again, getting clocked on his noggin with a giant pine cone, perhaps he was running towards the ‘cowbell’ on he heard!!! And, living in Michigan, we have pretty massive pine trees here, too & I personally have been noggin knocked by the cones…sometimes leaving their ‘gooey sap’ in my hair!!! No fun getting that out!!! And , rattlesnakes…just..NOPE!!! SO, I think the pine trees & cones & water fall sink holes ( which would terrify me, btw) rattlesnake & all were telling you, notice us, but now, MOVE ALONG, come visit again, but you all need beach, yard, ocean & sunshiney . Palm trees & your VERY own picnic table to have your eggies, pancakes & peanut butter cookies await in J’ville &/or Amelia/Fernandina. It’s THERE!! Wait & see. Good things come from the strength of the ‘struggles’ you go through. Y’all are stong, determined, resilient & have discovered & learned so much…..we can’t wait ‘for the rest of the story’!!! Love & safe travels ‘homeward’. 😘💕🐕🐕
In the piney woods, pine rattlers, pine cones, pine sap, pine needles, the whisper of the wind through the pine trees… Now on to a new place and maybe some time to sit still, heal, rest, compile that book, and decide what the next adventure will be.