This is Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle.  There are many things to be afraid of in this world.  For me, I am afraid of shiny floors, the lack of peanut butter cookies and thunder.  For Deputy Digby Pancake, he is afraid of metal grates, waterfalls and low ceilings.  Maybe you are afraid of all that too.  And maybe you are afraid of monkeys.  If you are afraid of monkeys, well, ask yourself this…especially if you are in Silver Springs State Park in Silver Springs, Florida.  What does a monkey see in the mirror?

We decided to hit the trails yesterday!

When we were walking on the swamp trail here at the park yesterday, there were many warnings about the monkeys.  I can’t read, but Girl Person can.  And she said just to be on the lookout and to listen.  She said it wasn’t every day that you get to be in the company of a monkey.

Persons seem to like signs a lot I have noticed.  It’s almost as if we have to be told everything.

My question is this.  Persons put these monkeys out here a long time ago for tourists.  Now persons are afraid of the monkeys that they put there in the first place.

Persons are afraid, but then they want to get close and don’t respect them.  Then they make more problems.  And then they think they have a bigger problem than what they really do because if they would just leave them alone in the first place, they wouldn’t have to worry at all.  Sometimes, I wonder if persons really know the problems that they cause for living things, for nature, for our earth and beyond.

Sometimes I wonder if they see the truth of their actions.  When a monkey looks in the mirror he sees a monkey.  When a person looks in the mirror, who do they see?  Most often, not the truth.  Not their true selves. It’s time they look to the monkeys.  It’s time that they look higher.  It’s time they should aspire to be like the monkeys at Silver Springs State Park.

If there is just one…just one thing that I wish persons would learn from traveling is that you don’t have to be afraid of things you are unfamiliar with.  You can learn from them.  After you learn about them, learn how to respect them and admire them from afar.  And then after you have done all of that, think about how you can make the world a better place for them by leaving them alone with love.

Think about how who you see in the mirror.  Are you being honest with yourself, or can you make changes?  Just like the monkeys that were left here in the 1930’s for people to enjoy, there may come a day when you need to climb higher than others around you.  Don’t let others who don’t care make it ok for you not to care.

We may be leaving Silver Springs State Park today…but the lessons we have learned here will stay with me always.  And so will the lessons of the monkeys.  I may not have been able to touch them or feel them face to face.  But that’s ok.  They still touched my heart.

-Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle

 We are back on the road today. Where are we going? We are going to let Jax decide…