This is Deputy Digby Pancake.  It is definitely nice to travel.  It is nice to see the world, and meet new people and see new things.  But there is also something to be said for the same backyard for awhile, and people that you have always known.

As we have been parked at Memaw Macaw’s house for a few weeks, Boy Person has got to help his mom with stuff and also work on our Big Blue Treat Wagon RV.  It has been a bit since he was here…actually it was his grandparents’ old house at one time.

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together

Although the people living in it have changed, one thing has remained the same.  One thing has been here all along.  The bottlebrush tree.

I did not know much about bottlebrush trees, or this one in particular.  And I am all about the learning.  Actually, I am not, but I like pretty colors I suppose.  Yes, I see colors. Let’s not go there.

Not many dogs would take such notice of a tree.  But when you haven’t had a steady tree to lay by for awhile, you do notice such things. You appreciate such things.  But I had to wonder.  Why were bottles growing on this tree?

I have wanted to plant trees my whole life.  Well, pancake trees.  I figured that if I planted enough of them, that I would never have to worry about the pancake supply again.  But who planted this tree, I wondered.  Why would they want so many bottles?

Walked out this morning
Don’t believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone at being alone
A hundred billion casatways
Looking for a home

I have heard of persons that send messages in bottles.  You know…they write a letter and they hope that someone finds the bottle and reads it.

Girl Person said when she was little, she used to send bottles with letters in the swamp…hoping that someone would find them on the other side. Who would find them?  Her Pappy would. After she told him that she sent them.  And then, she said that he would write another letter back and put it on the edge of the swamp for her to find it.  Seems to me that this was a bit ridiculous.  Seems to me that Girl Person had no stamps.  Seems to me that she thought the swamp was a bigger thing than it actually was.  Seems to me that obviously Pappy had a lot of beer bottles for these shenanigans.

Even though Girl Person and Boy Person only lived about a half hour away from each other, on Boy Person’s side of the swamp, he had this bottlebrush tree.  And I suppose that Boy Person and his family had their own letters that they were sending from it if they went to the trouble of planting it.  And now I am sitting under it.  And now, Sheriff Brickle is barking under it.  And now, our RV is parked under it.

Girl Person says that she wishes that she could go back and read the letters that she sent in those bottles.  I say that I wish she would have planted a pancake tree back then, because can you imagine how big it would be now?  Boy Person says that this bottle brush tree’s letters may not have been sent across a swamp, but that it still had messages.  It had messages of history, messages of growth and beauty.  It had messages that time went on.  It made it through hurricanes and storms.  And even though the people changed that took care of it, it cared for them all just the same.  And now…as Memaw Macaw prepares to move away soon now too, I have to wonder.  Will the next persons appreciate it?  Will they recognize the messages in the bottles that it has?  Will they open those bottles and read the letters that it has inside?

Girl Person says that although bottlebrush trees usually live only 50 years, and this one may be near to moving on too, its glorious flowers are sending a message that even in old age, things can grow.  Even in old age, we all have something to give.  Even in old age, we can send out our messages to the world and be appreciated.

Every tree we have met on our trip were strangers. But this tree, I felt like I had known all along.  This tree had known Boy Person when he was little.  This tree had known his family.  This tree had been there when persons were born, and when they went away. And as I lay here everyday, under the bottlebrush tree, I see that life is still all around it.

If you feel like your message has been lost, send another one in a bottle. You still have time. But don’t send it by swamp.  Also.  Plant a pancake tree.

I’ll send an SOS to the world
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle

-Deputy Digby Pancake

Our live cooking segment this week focused on making bone broth for your dog! Find the full recipe here and catch the video below!