Today is Sunday, and that means a look back at a memory with Brickle and Digby. Memories also mean lessons later on. And this is one of those memories.
It was 2017 and we had been on the road for about a year and a half. The Big Blue Treat Wagon RV was always one block away from breaking down. And some days, we just didn’t feel like traveling. That’s the truth.
But feeling like traveling and having to travel because you had no reservations and you lived in your mode of travel was a different story. We had to some days. And after a day of driving many miles, we found the only campsite available in Alpine, Texas. We were thankful but weary to finally pull in and park.
If you know Brickle and Digby’s love of picnic tables, you would know the relief I had when we got a great one with this campsite. In a life of travel, there was always a picnic table at camp. And that was a familiar thing for the boys and comforting for us all. But this picnic table proved to be too good to be true.
Because after we finally got set up and Brickle and I went outside to take a breath at the table, a very wobbly man decided to join us and sit right down. The unspoken rule of camping is respect for not walking thru other people’s campsites and definitely not taking a spot at their table.
What did Brickle, the all protector and scarer of all at camping do? He lunged at the man to protect me and showed his teeth and what did the man do? Nothing. He just sat there. And I had no idea what to do. So to prevent a bite from Sheriff Brickle, I got up and looked for Boy Person who was on the other side of the RV hooking up water. And no sooner had I told him the issue when I heard Digby’s howl of all howls. The man had opened the door to our RV to go in and quickly was woken up out of his daze to turn around. We had all had it. When I say had it, I mean done. Finished. Mad. And that’s when Boy Person locked us all inside and went to the office to ask to be moved.
After hours more of unhooking everything and moving to another campsite without a picnic table I might add, Brickle and Digby were just beyond mad at us now. So, I took them for a walk and Brickle went right back to that picnic table and demanded to sit down. I did. And then what happened? You can guess that we had a visitor. Yet again. No words were spoken. Brickle didn’t growl but generously decided sharing his picnic table was better than not having one at all.
We left the next day, tired and frustrated. And I vowed that this travel thing would be over soon for my sake. I was getting increasingly irritable at having to live all the time with others and having no space. Little did I know, we would be traveling for five more years.
Now, looking back, I realize that this was a lesson not only in sharing, something we learn as children, but being kind. There was no reason j shouldn’t have said hello or asked him what was wrong. Maybe my interest and kindness would have helped him in some way. I regret that.
Often, being irritable towards others when we feel disrespected is a chance to ask them something about themselves or to help them to see maybe a better way to be. I thank Brickle that day for showing me simply how to share. And Digby for…his howl. Because yep, that man did get up after that…
–Girl Person
We’re sorry we’ve asked you a few times recently, but it’s Sunday, April 27th. Can we continue the blog for May?
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When my partner and I went RVing, we had a dog, Sierra, who was our protector. Whenever, we would pull in to our campsite my partner, Sherri would take her for a walk and I would do the hookups. Sierra would lay on the grass and if anyone approached she would be up and standing in front of the picnic table watching and growling very low. She was always on guard.