questions – 2 Traveling Dogs

This is Deputy Digby Pancake. It’s no secret that I love driving around.

https://twitter.com/2TravelingDogs/status/1191813550819422208?s=20

It’s no secret that I love to smell new things, roll around in new things and generally, I love to do it all at once! But yesterday, the persons said we were going to have a different kind of afternoon. They said that Brickle and I were going to sit back, relax, and enjoy riding around at this place called Cades Cove in Tennessee.

The persons said that this place called Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was a place that people lived in once and that it is a pretty, peaceful and untouched place to visit.

They told us that a lot of wildlife like bears and deers call it home now. So do birds and wood frogs and all kinds of critters. I wonder if they have to pay rent.

I could picture this place in my head. It sounded very nice. But Brickle said that he would rather hike. He said he would rather lay in the sun than drive.

Sheriff Brickle was being difficult, as Sheriff Brickle always is. He said that if he could drive, he would go get ice cream. Not to a cove. Or a road.

The persons tried to explain to Brickle that this was another place in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that did not allow dogs to walk around. They said that we would have to let them drive us around but that we would get out at picnic areas and for ice cream.

They said we wouldn’t get bored. And they were right!

After we had a delightful ice cream cone, well, I had one and a half because Brickle’s cone was not flavorful enough for him, we set out on our drive. An 11 mile loop road. With cabins and buildings, a mill and more! There were bears and deer and we saw a woodpecker. I liked this Driving Mr. Digby thing.

As the persons told us about what we were seeing, I took a nap. You can do that when others are driving you around. I am glad I never got my driver’s license. I heard the place you get it from isn’t very fun and they don’t have pancakes. Or ice cream like Cades Cove.

The time seemed to pass by so quickly as we were driving. The mountains and the sounds and the way everyone drove so slow was different than any road I had ever been on. I wondered why more roads weren’t like this and why everyone was in such a hurry everywhere else. Didn’t they know that they were driving by all kinds of stuff and not noticing it? But here, persons stopped, got out of their cars and lovingly took pictures of deer. They listened to the music of the birds. They were patient with each other. Kind. Slow. I was happy the persons were showing us that life can be like this. I think that the persons who used to live here would be happy about that.

I was happy to be looking instead of walking. I was happy to see things I would have missed if we weren’t driving around.

When was the last time you truly looked? When was the last time you slowed down? Girl Person says it is something she is working on. It’s hard for her. She says she always has so much to do. Are you afraid of who you may see if you slow down? Get to know that person again.

One thing I have learned is that persons ALWAYS have so much to do. They will never be done with all they have to do. So why not take a day to just look? The doing will be there tomorrow. One day, will you say, “I wish I would have finished that report.” Or will you say, “I wish I would have went to Cades Cove?”.

For the persons who were fortunate to live in this place called Cades Cove, I can only imagine that when they woke up every day they had things to do too. Different things than persons do now.

But they woke to these same mountains we were driving thru and looking at. I wonder if they ever thought that this place they called home would seem so special to others?

I wonder why few places like this are left anymore. Is what was put in their place like highways and stores and buildings called progress?

Persons do things us dogs don’t understand. To just be, and just look shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be part of your day. Every day. Don’t let life pass you by. Participate in it. It will go faster than you think.