Friday’s Blog: Pins And Needles

By Fruitycake, 2 Traveling Dogs

A note from Fruitycake: Before I tell you about the chestnuts, the sunshiney and the very uncomfortable condition known as waiting, I have two favors to ask. First, please consider joining us on Patreon for just $5 a month. You will get my full weekday blogs, audio blogs read by Girl Person and me, and special adventures that help us keep 2 Traveling Dogs going while we prepare for our next chapter helping rescue animals. We have been doing this for fifteen years, and we want to keep going. But we need more persons to come along with us. You can join right now at https://www.patreon.com/2travelingdogsrescue.

Second, have you listened to my new Pawcast? I am officially a broadcasting professional now, thanks to Boy Person and his mysterious machine called the Barking Blabbercaster. We have special guests, interesting facts, questions from barkers and important discussions about things that matter to dogs. Like food. And why persons insist on talking when they could be preparing food. My Pawcast is being made especially with shelter dogs in mind, because we want them to have something familiar, funny and comforting to listen to while they wait for their own new beginnings. Please listen, share it and help us make this little idea into something that reaches a lot of lonely dogs. You can find the Pawcast on our website FREE at  https://2travelingdogs.com/feed/podcast/fruitycakes-pawcast

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This is Fruitycake. And I have been informed that we are on pins and needles. I have inspected my paws thoroughly, and I can assure you there are no pins or needles in them. I would know. I have very large paws, and I take their maintenance seriously. Apparently, this is another one of those expressions persons use when they are worried about something they cannot control. I do not understand why persons insist on describing their emotions using sharp objects, but I suppose everyone needs a hobby.

We are still waiting to hear from the person who wants to buy our rustico. And waiting has become a full-time occupation around here. Girl Person checks for news. Boy Person checks for news. I check to see whether checking for news has somehow resulted in pizza. It has not. Every day we hope this will be the day we finally know something. Every day we imagine what it will feel like to have an answer, to make plans, to pack our things and to begin the next chapter of our lives. And then another day passes, and we are still here, wondering what tomorrow will bring. I think the hardest part is that we cannot do anything to make the answer come faster. We have done what we can. Now someone else has to do their part.

And while we wait, winter is coming up the mountain. We remember last winter. We remember the cold stone walls, the dampness, the long dark evenings and how much work it takes just to keep ourselves warm and comfortable here. We remember carrying supplies up the path, worrying about fuel and trying to make everything last a little longer. Girl Person is especially worried because she knows how difficult another winter here could be. We are hoping and praying that we will not have to spend it in this rustico. Not because we do not love this place, but because loving a place does not always mean you can keep living in it. Sometimes you can love something with your whole heart and still know that it is time to leave.

But here is the problem with trying to be sad about all of this. IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL RIGHT NOW. The sunshiney comes through the trees and makes everything look as though someone has been polishing the entire valley while we were sleeping. The leaves are changing, the olives are falling, the air feels wonderful and the chestnuts are everywhere. Even the stone steps look inviting, although I would like to remind everyone that they are still very steep and have never once offered to carry groceries. The world around us is putting on such a magnificent show that it feels almost rude to spend the entire day worrying about what might happen next.

So we have decided to store up chestnuts and sunshiney for winter. Just in case.

Now, I should explain that storing sunshiney is not an exact science. Girl Person has been attempting to collect it by sitting outside, looking at the trees and taking pictures of everything. I have been collecting it by lying directly in the warmest patch I can find and refusing to move until it relocates. Boy Person has been collecting chestnuts, which seems considerably more practical. The trees are giving us these beautiful little brown treasures, and we have been cooking them and enjoying them. I am told they are delicious, although I remain convinced that anything roasted would benefit from being placed on a pizza.

There is something wonderful about chestnuts. They arrive in those prickly little cases, protected by a thousand tiny weapons, and inside is something sweet and comforting. You have to be patient with them. You have to gather them, cut them, cook them and peel them. And sometimes, after all that effort, you discover that the one you were most excited about is not very good inside. I believe there is a life lesson in there somewhere, but I am still working on it. Mostly I think it means you should have several chestnuts available so that disappointment does not interfere with dinner.

But we have learned something else about chestnuts. Once you cook them, they do not stay good for very long. Freshly cooked chestnuts are wonderful, but they can spoil surprisingly quickly if you try to save them too long. They need to be refrigerated promptly and enjoyed within a few days, or frozen if you want to keep them longer. You cannot simply cook a big pile, put them aside and assume they will be waiting patiently whenever you finally decide you are ready for them.

And that got Girl Person thinking. Because how often do we do that with the good things in our lives? We save them. We put them away for later. We wait for the right circumstances, the right amount of money, the right mood or the right moment. We tell ourselves that we will enjoy something when the difficult part is over. We will relax when the house sells. We will celebrate when the plans are certain. We will notice how beautiful everything is when we are not so worried about tomorrow. And meanwhile, the chestnuts are getting cold, the sunshiney is moving across the valley and another perfectly good day is disappearing.

Maybe not everything beautiful is meant to be saved for later. Maybe some things are meant to be enjoyed while they are warm, while they are here, while we still have the chance. We cannot store up every good moment and expect it to be exactly the same when we finally open it again. Sometimes the best thing we can do is sit down, peel the chestnut, feel the sunshiney on our faces and be grateful that this particular moment belongs to us.

I think this is especially important when you are living on pins and needles. Because worrying about the future can make you feel as though the present does not count. As though these days are just something to get through until the real life begins again. But they count. This Friday counts. The beautiful trees count. The chestnuts count. The funny little things I do that make Girl Person laugh when she has been feeling sad count. Even the difficult days are part of our story, and I do not want us to miss all the good things happening inside them.

October 16 | I Will Make My World A Little More Beautiful

TODAY’S AFFIRMATION

I can add beauty without waiting for perfect circumstances. I can tidy one corner, arrange a meal, notice a view, play music or offer kindness. Small beauty changes the way a day feels.

I think this affirmation was written specifically for our rustico today. Because we certainly do not have perfect circumstances. We have uncertainty, a house that may or may not be sold soon, a winter we desperately hope to avoid and more questions than answers. But we also have the ability to make this Friday a little more beautiful. Girl Person can arrange the chestnuts in a bowl and make a simple meal feel special. Boy Person can play some music while he works. I can sit beside them and provide my professional opinion on whether enough food has been prepared. We can open the door, admire the valley, take a walk together and remember that beauty does not require everything else in our lives to be figured out first.

And perhaps making the world a little more beautiful is not always about flowers, sunshiney or chestnuts. Sometimes it is about the way we treat someone who is worried. Sometimes it is answering a message kindly, helping a person who is struggling or remembering an animal who is waiting in a shelter. There are dogs right now who are living on their own version of pins and needles, although they probably do not call it that. They are waiting for someone to notice them, to choose them, to give them a chance. They do not know when their lives will change either. But a kind volunteer, a gentle walk, a comfortable blanket or a few minutes of attention can make their world a little more beautiful today. And today matters to them just as much as tomorrow.

Our new This Is…Me project is about helping those dogs be seen, believed and rescued. We want to help tell their real stories and give them a better chance at being noticed. That is the future we are working toward, even while we wait for our own future to become clearer. And maybe that is another reason we need to keep finding beauty in these uncertain days. We have important things ahead of us, and we do not want worry to use up all the energy and hope we need to get there.

I do not know whether we will hear from the buyer today. I do not know whether we will be packing our things soon or preparing for another winter on this mountain. I do know that Girl Person and Boy Person are tired of waiting, and I wish I could give them the answer they need. If I were in charge of real estate transactions, I would require everyone to make their decisions immediately, preferably before breakfast. There would also be mandatory pizza at all closings. I believe this would improve the entire industry.

But until we know, we are going to keep living. We are going to collect chestnuts, enjoy the sunshiney, laugh when we can and make this place as beautiful as possible while we are still here. We are going to hope and pray for the answer we need without allowing the waiting to steal every good thing we have today.

Because the chestnuts are warm right now. The sunshiney is beautiful right now. And even though we are on pins and needles, we are still together right now.

I think that is worth enjoying.

Now, if someone could explain why we are storing up chestnuts instead of pizza, I would appreciate it.

Fruitycake

P.S. From Fruitycake: While we continue waiting for news about the rustico, we are also trying to get enough support for groceries and fuel for our heater and generator as the colder weather approaches. We are behind on necessities, and your kindness would make a real difference right now. If you can help, thank you for keeping us going and helping us continue our rescue work. We appreciate every person who is still here with us.

Help with necessities: https://www.tinyurl.com/2tdnecessities

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Love and very large paws,

Fruitycake

Make Rescues The Breed Of Choice!