This is Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle. What do you consider beautiful…besides me?

Is it a pretty tree or a fragrant, bright flower? What about a blade of grass? Or do you want more grand, beautiful things like a shiny car or maybe a big mansion?

There is certainly nothing wrong with those things. In fact, we could use a new shiny Treat Wagon some days!

But are pretty things to be taken at face value all of the time? Even pretty things like a mansion? What’s the story? We wondered this when we visited a mansion here in Natchez, Mississippi.

Yes. It was a beautiful place.

The trees and the flowers were something to behold and actually added to my beauty.

But when traveling, it’s important to take the time to actually learn about where you visit. After all, you’ve probably never been there before. As we walked around, we saw where people that did the hard work on this plantation and mansion stayed. And I was more interested in them. Why were they here? Did they choose to be here?

I saw many other visitors at the mansion. And I wondered. Were people overlooking the history of the buildings here and only seeing what they looked like but not seeing what actually happened here? It made me feel sad to learn. But it would have been sadder to ignore.

It’s easy take things, especially beautiful things, at face value. But when we can take what we learn and show respect for ones who lived there, it’s then our responsibility to be better for it. There is much history in this Natchez, Mississippi place. Some beautiful.

But looking beyond that, there were very bad things that happened here too. And we simply can’t leave here without acknowledging that.

Traveling opens your eyes to things you may have been unaware of.

And it makes us hopefully be better and apply those things to everyday life. We can even take individuals at face value too. We may think we know someone. But do we? Do we judge based on appearance? If we do, it’s time to examine our hearts. Would we want someone to judge us?

We head back out on the road today and say goodbye to Natchez, Mississippi.

We are headed to get some ocean therapy, but Girl Person isn’t feeling so good. So we will still be in Mississippi at the end of the day. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for updates.

–Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle