This is Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle. Every day teaches us something about ourselves. I’ve said this before. Some lessons are learned the hard way. Like when you think you’ll like a different kind of cookie other than a peanut butter one. But you never do.

This day is teaching us patience. Flexibility. Hope. Today is the day we try to get new tires on the Big Blue Treat Wagon RV. We found some nice persons to order tires and change them about 20 miles away. We have to pack up the RV and Boy Person is going to try and make it there. Because Girl Person thinks it would be stressful for me and Digby to be in the RV when this is happening, she is going to take us for a picnic while this is going on.

I love picnics so that’s ok by me. But it will be too late in the day when it’s over for us to drive to another camp. Then rain comes tomorrow. So right now, the plan is to stick it out here in the Cumberland Gap and freezing cold and cold showers until Saturday. Then, we will be head to Gatlingburg, Tennessee for a few days.

And then? Let’s not jump too far ahead of ourselves.

All of these plans depend on roads. Yes. Roads. Roads to get us to and from places we want to be or don’t want to be. Tires are no good for us unless we have roads to travel on.

But as we learned yesterday at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, persons had to be convinced on the value of roads.

A long time ago, the United States government wanted people to see the importance of gravel roads. But no matter how much they told them about roads and why they needed them, they figured the best way to have them understand would be for them to see roads.

They called them Object Lesson Roads.

In the early 1900’s, the US Department Of Agricultural built gravel roads to show convenience and convince voters they needed them. And we walked on one yesterday.

I had to wonder why persons would not have understood they needed these roads. But Girl Person told me it was a new idea. It was a new way of doing things.

Girl Person says examples are good ways to teach lessons to others. Like the Object Lesson Roads. We can tell someone our opinion. Like maybe on animal rescue. But if we don’t live that as an example, can they really place any value in what we say?

Or maybe we tell others to be kind. But then yell at someone in traffic. Or we tell others to appreciate their loved ones and we don’t call ours.

We’ve all been guilty of not being a good example or an Object Lesson. But build that road! Show others that being better makes us better and the world better. Go down that road. Travel down it.

–Sheriff Peanut Butter Brickle

Shop our online store full of mugs, totes and shirts!