The Dog By The Fire
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This is Fruitycake. Sometimes there isn’t much more you can do than just give in to the fact that some things are beyond your control. At least that is what I have heard persons say. Dogs never fight against the flow. Our energy is best spent on going with it. I’m all about working up an appetite in order to eat more pizza. But I’d rather my work be on good things and positive things.
So yesterday, I stopped trying to fight against the storms and rain. There is nothing we can do about it. The truth is that we don’t have enough wood to keep us warm. So Boy Person, even though he is sick, is going to have to go into town and carry up some wood pellets. He is very worried about Girl Person and has told her that one of them has to be okay. So she can’t get sick, too. All she does is cry. And if this house closing doesn’t happen sooner rather than later, we are going to be carrying up a lot, a lot of pellets.
So in the midst of all of this, I just decided to lie by the fire for as long as we have it. I rested for a change instead of walking miles. I took in the sound of the rain instead of barking at it. I just went with the flow. The warmer one.
It seems as though persons spend so much energy fighting against the path they are supposed to be on until they finally, and eventually, find their way back. If you’ve gone off course, stop fighting it and see what’s true. Even if it is the rain. Pretending it isn’t there won’t help. You’ll only grow more weary. Be a dog by the fire like me if you have to. And enjoy the days that make you wake up to reality. That, my friends, may be even better than what you imagined.
And maybe that is what the fire is teaching me today. We cannot keep every season of our lives warm and sunshiney. We cannot stop the rain, make someone well just because we love them, or bring back someone we miss more than words can say. But we can honor what we have lost by remembering what it gave us. We can take the love that remains and use it to keep someone else warm. Even if all we have to offer is a place beside us by the fire.
I think about my brother Brickle and how much he loved this Italy place. I think about how much Girl Person misses him, and Digby too, and how sometimes the tears she cries aren’t just about the rain or the house closing. Sometimes they are about everything that has happened and everyone who isn’t here to see what happens next. But I know one thing. Brickle taught us how to keep going, how to find happiness in the smallest things, and how to make the most of the days we are given. And I think sitting by the fire and remembering that is a pretty good way to honor him.
So today, I am not going to fight the rain. I am going to appreciate the fire while it burns, the persons beside me, and the memories that keep us warm long after the flames are gone. Tomorrow may bring more rain, or it may bring the news we have been waiting for. Either way, I will be here, being a dog, doing my best to remind my persons that there is still something good about today.
And if anyone happens to have a pizza warming by their fire, I would be happy to honor that, too.
November 11 | I Will Honor What I Have Lost
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION
I Will Honor What I Have Lost. Love does not disappear when someone is gone. We carry it in the ways we live and care for others.
Today, think of someone or something you have lost that changed your life for the better. Instead of thinking only about the absence, remember what remains because of that love. Maybe it is a lesson, a habit, a favorite place, or a kindness you now show to someone else. Honoring what we have lost doesn’t mean we have to stop missing it. It means allowing that love to continue doing good in the world.
And sometimes, that begins with simply sitting beside someone who needs you.
Fruitycake
Make Rescues The Breed Of Choice.
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P.S. From Fruitycake — Ways To Help Us Keep Going And Help More Dogs
We are still here in this Italy place, waiting for the next chapter to begin. Your kindness helps us get through these days and continue our rescue mission.
Help Fruitycake Get Back To America: I still need veterinary appointments, travel paperwork, transportation and other expenses to get safely back to that America place. Every contribution helps us get closer to beginning the next chapter of 2 Traveling Dogs and helping more rescue dogs.
Help Fruitycake Get Ready To Leave Italy
Help With Our Daily Necessities: Right now, we especially need help with groceries, wood pellets to stay warm, and other basic necessities while we wait for the sale to close.
Help With Food, Fuel And Necessities
Sponsor A Real Rescue Dog — THIS IS…ME: We are trying to find five sponsors every week for our verified real shelter dog stories. Each sponsorship helps us research, verify, write and share a dog’s story so that more people can see the wonderful dogs waiting in shelters. You can choose a location and dedicate your sponsorship in honor or memory of someone special, including your own beloved dog. We have only had one sponsor so far this week, and we truly need more to keep this program growing.
Sponsor A THIS IS…ME Rescue Dog Story
Join Our Patreon Family: For just $5 a month, you can help support our daily work and receive our weekday blogs, audio recordings and updates. Regular monthly support makes an enormous difference because it allows us to plan ahead and continue creating.
Join 2 Traveling Dogs On Patreon
Our 2027 Calendars: Bring a little of our adventures into your home or give one to someone who loves dogs, Italy and the beauty of finding your own path.
2027 Under The Crow Rustico Calendar
2027 2 Traveling Dogs Calendar
Other Ways To Help Directly:
Venmo: @travelingdogs2
Zelle: rachael@2travelingdogs.com
And please listen to and share Fruitycake’s Pawcast! Every listener helps us grow our audience and our ability to speak up for rescue dogs everywhere.
If you cannot contribute financially, sharing our stories, commenting, listening to the Pawcast or telling someone about a shelter dog means so much to us, too.
We have spent years trying to prove that rescue dogs can change the world. We still believe that. We still have so much more we want to do. We just need a little help getting through this chapter so we can begin the next one.
Thank you for being part of our story, for remembering Brickle, and for believing in a dog like me.
Love again,
Fruitycake 🐾
Make Rescues The Breed Of Choice.
