This is Deputy Digby Pancake. A day can make a big difference. You go from cold. To hot. From leaves to a lake. From New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

But no matter where we go, there are trees.

Trees that have lived where they live for a long, long time.

But just like persons, trees look different and maybe grow different things. Some are tall, some are short. And they may even have different barks. No. Not the way they sound. But the way they look on the outside.

It’s easy to just walk past trees. After all, there are a lot of them. It’s easy not to look up and imagine you were a leaf on the top of the branches. It’s easy not to imagine sitting on a big branch at night gazing at the stars. It’s easy to just do what you do everyday. And not take notice.

But traveling makes you see things such as trees and their bark a little different. Ok. A lot different.

We may never. Ever. See that particular tree again.

Bark on a tree is on the outside. Just like a dog’s bark is on the outside.

Although I do have inner barks I prefer to keep to myself. Some things you have to keep a secret like how to make the best pancakes in the world. But on second thought, if I talked about that inner bark, someone might make them for me.

As nature teaches us many things, so does tree bark. All of us have a different bark. A way we appear on the outside. But even the way we communicate to each other is different. For all of us. And sometimes, it’s easy to get offended by a certain bark. Or not understand it. But do we take extra time to try and learn? To understand? To appreciate differences?

Bark on trees can be used for many things. Eating, medicines, canoes. I could go on and on.

Every bark has a unique, different use. Just like persons and all individuals. Like dogs. Don’t keep walking. Listen. Bark!

–Deputy Digby Pancake