This is Deputy Digby Pancake.  I don’t keep secrets, so allow me to tell you this right away.   It is hot as the kitchen at IHop (not IHob thanks to me).  It is as hot as a frying pan full of bacon at Granny Person’s house back in the day.  It is as hot as Sheriff Brickle’s attitude.  And all of this hot makes me tired.  It makes me sleepy.  It makes me want to do less than I normally do, which is less than anyone.

After being so hot and so tired, Girl Person thought it best that we take our exercise in shifts.  We get up early and hike a little bit.

Then we come back and eat breakfast.  Sometimes we even have pizza.  Brickle really likes that.

Then we take a nap in the air conditioning which is thankfully still working.  (Keeping my paws crossed).  Then we go back outside, take another walk, get another snack and take another nap.

Now.  Some persons would consider this a luxury… to be me.  And I get that because you have to work at places that maybe you don’t want to work at.  But don’t think for one little moment that I don’t go to work.

Don’t misunderstand the above schedule to mean that I don’t take my job seriously.  Especially when part of your job as Deputy is keeping the trails safe.  From.  Giant Ground Sloths.  Giant Ground Sloth?  You heard me.

It’s probably not something that you would expect to encounter when you are in Savannah, Georgia.  But Girl Person explained to me that one was found here at this park.  Yes, here.  At this park.

And when I heard that, I knew.  If I wanted to keep my title as sloth around here, I had to pawtrol the trails to make sure that there were none of these sloths left here.

It goes without saying, but I will say it, that there are a lot of things to watch out for on the trails in the middle of a summer heatwave in Georgia.  Snakes, alligators, more alligators and Brickle’s less than pleasant attitude which will bite ya.  But I never thought that I would have to look out for a sloth.  Girl Person told me that the Giant Ground Sloth lived here long, long ago.  She said that he did not want our camping spot, and that he did not want my pancakes.  Brickle doesn’t care if he takes his pizza though.  She said that the Giant Ground Sloth they found here at the park probably really liked his time here.  She said that he probably had a family like us and liked to eat treats like us and he liked to go on walks like us.  And I thought about that.

Some things, people and creatures we hear about and we learn about, but do we really think of them as being real?  Or do they seem like fiction to us?  It is easy to not view something as important when we don’t think about what they used to be like and the sad part of them not being here anymore.  Yeah, the Giant Ground Sloth.  He lived here once.  He didn’t even have to buy a Georgia State Parks Pass to get in.  And he was here long before there was even a nearby city of Savannah.

Places that you visit are more than what the guidebooks tell you.  The reality of the past is that animals and people called it home long before it was popular to go there.  When you travel, it is up to you to put down the books that tell you where to go, close your eyes and imagine.  Imagine the ones that were here long ago that others have forgot about to go shopping.  Imagine the ones that were here when no one else was.  Have respect that one day, you may not be here either.  Don’t you want someone to remember you on your favorite part of the earth?

Once upon a time there was a Giant Ground Sloth in Savannah, Georgia.  And once upon a time, there was a Deputy Digby Pancake in Savannah, Georgia.  We both thought we had all the time to be here in the world.  When one day, we will both wish for one more time.  One more time to walk these trails and be a sloth.

Yes, some may not think of the Giant Ground Sloth when they think of Savannah.  Some may not even think of me when they think of pancakes.  But I aim to change all of the above.  After I take a nap.  I will have one eye open though.  You never know if the Giant Ground Sloth is going to come back.

You may wonder.  Why though is the Giant Ground Sloth arrested?  The sloth is arrested for not telling me where his giant pillow was at.  Or his giant bed.  Or his giant breakfast.

-Deputy Digby Pancake

Don’t forget to catch our weekly cooking episode for dogs and people at noon ET Friday on Instagram TV and our Facebook page!

This week, we are making Pita Pizza For Dogs and People.

 

Is organic shampoo really necessary when it comes to bathing our dogs?  Once you try 4-Legger, you will have the answer.  We wouldn’t use anything else.  Use coupon code 2TravelingDogs at checkout!