This is Peanut Butter Brickle. I am still recovering from the news last week that Fruitycake The Raccoon is allergic to a million things…including…peanuts.

It has been a lot to process. My conclusion to the matter is that it leaves more peanuts for me. And that can only add to my handsome.

We have been cutting out many things from our house on wheels and our food. A big thing that Fruitycake is allergic to are many different types of fabric. Unless it is cotton, it makes him itch and be uncomfortable. You would be surprised how many chemicals are in fabric.

Many of the blankets that we sit on are not good for him. And so we are going to be taking them to an animal shelter for the cats and dogs there.

Cotton. It might be something you don’t think much about. We have been driving across the country back and forth for many years. And we have seen many crops. We have seen many things growing. But as we drove down a country road this weekend with miles and miles of pretty flowers, the persons said they were not sure at all what those flowers were.

Were they peanuts? Nope.

Were they soybeans? Nope.

Were they corn? Nope.

All of those things grow in abundance here in this Virginia place. But what were these mysterious blooms?

We stopped and asked a local farmer. And they told the persons that it was cotton! The flowers were cotton blooms! Did you know that cotton has flowers? We did not.

Isn’t it amazing how things grow? And isn’t it amazing how things grow in different places? We eat food every day. We use blankets and we use water. We use countless things every single day. Do we appreciate how they grow and how they got to us?

Do we conserve how we use them or are we wasteful?

Sometimes, our persons buy recycled paper plates because we may not have water hookups for the RV and it makes washing dishes hard. We eat a lot and use a lot of dishes. But as Girl Person was going to throw away those paper plates, she noticed they were sturdy enough to use again for me and Fruity. And so she washed them and let them dry. And we used them again. Is there one extra step we can take to conserve something?

Is there one extra person we can thank, like a farmer, for giving us what we need?

When we have to save money, we definitely notice all of the things that we buy and use, don’t we? If we try to keep that mentality, even when we have a little extra, we can show our respect for the earth and what it gives us.

Where the cotton blooms, or where the corn grows, or where the peanuts grow, there was someone that planted it. We should ESPECIALLY thank the countless people who FIRST planted it.

Use it wisely. Use it respectfully.

-Peanut Butter Brickle

Want to come hang out with us on August 20th in Williamsburg, Virginia? Sign up for our first ever Pick Up The Park event with Good Sam at Waller Mill Park! There will be giveaways, breakfast and lunch provided! Special time will be announced to meet Brickle and Fruitycake in person! Spaces are limited. Sign up at https://forms.gle/wxTK7CAwMZF8zdCy5