This is Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle. Out of sight, out of mind, they say. Well, here I am in case you forgot what I look like.
Has something ever been really important to you one day, but then you start thinking about something else and that really important thing isn’t so important anymore? Maybe it’s like when Boy Person bought some kombucha.
So, the persons like some strange things. And I would suppose that kombucha is strange to some. I want no part of it and definitely no sip of it.
But the persons like it, and if they don’t make me drink it, all the better. But buying a lot of this fermented and fizzy drink when it’s on sale and then leaving it in the car overnight in this Florida place? Not a good idea.
Boy Person was preoccupied with coming home after playing soccer and he wanted to take a shower so bad here at the prison campground showers that he left it in the car. All. Of. It. All of the fermented, stinky, smelly kombucha.
He didn’t think about it when he was trying not to touch the shower walls. He didn’t think about it as he ate his vegetable stir-fry dinner. He didn’t think about it even as he sipped his $4 wine. Nope. And there it all sat in the car. Getting lonely. Getting hot. Ready to explode like a rocket.
Nope. He didn’t know that his fizzy, on sale drinks were now having a party in the car.
Then, the next morning, when we all went to take a drive…well…it was apparent that these kombucha partiers should have been arrested. This was indecent.
The smell wafted past me, worse than Digby’s worse smelling day. Which is every day. And then, the mess. Good thing that there was all this dog hair in the car to soak it up. And the flies certainly came out to help. It was a community effort. And the forgotten kombucha? We won’t forget it anytime soon.
But the persons cleaned up the mess. And well, we might smell like kombucha for awhile, or forever. It made me think of all the things lately we have forgotten. A lot of scary days lately make for tummy aches and worries. Things we thought were so important just a few weeks ago, somehow don’t seem that urgent. Somehow, we needed to be reminded that there were things we forgot about. Like appreciating time together. Like telling each other, out loud, that we love each other. Not taking it for granted that things can’t change overnight. Because they can in a messy way for any of us.
This week, we told you every day would have an assignment. Today’s assignment is to stop forgetting the important things. You know what they are. Don’t leave them for another day to appreciate them. I want everyone to talk to your dog out loud today. Tell your dog what makes him or her special. If you need to apologize for something, do it. If you need to explain something, explain it.
You may not know if your dog understands you. But I’m telling you, we do. Sometimes we need to hear what you need to say. Out of sight, out of mind? Don’t ignore the good things..the good parts of life. Don’t leave them to disappear for something less important.
Hot kombucha in a car is a bad idea. But do your assignment and that’s a very good idea. You have something you need to say. Your dog is listening.
–Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle
