Dear Fwiend,Typically August is pretty slow and hot around here at the furSmiths—you know, just escaping the heat as much as possible and laying low. Not this August! We WENT to the heat—ON PURPOSE! 😹 Since our Summer WUV Letter, life at the furSmith house has been FULL of adventures, firsts, big changes, hopeful new beginnings…and one very sad goodbye. So grab your favorite beverage, find a comfy spot wif your fur kid(s) and settle in. We have LOTS to tell you! 🐦⬛ Remember Baby Azuri?
Speaking of big changes… Well, somebody apparently forgot to tell Azuri that he was supposed to stay little. Our little baby crow grew…and grew…and GREW. Suddenly we had a long-legged teenager hopping around in his big outdoor birdio (Zach and Lovey’s first catio)—and before we knew it, he looked almost like a fully grown crow! After weeks of caring for him and watching his wild crow family spend hours each day with him on the other side of his birdio—teaching him how to “crow”—it was finally time for Azuri’s next big step. He hopped into his doggo carrier and became our newest Scoobymobile backseater—destination: Shalom Wildlife Rescue for rehabilitation. The big question now is his right wing. The wonderful hope is that with time, space and rehabilitation, he’ll be able to strengthen it enough to fly normally and live the wild life he was meant to live. And if he can? He gets to come HOME! Our greatest hope is that Azuri can return here for release and reunite with his real crow family—the family that still comes looking for him. So we’re waiting, hoping and cheering for those wings. Fly, Azuri, fly. 🐦⬛💛 🐱 The Kitties Went on Their Very First PawCation!
Yep. You read that right. Oliver and Lovey officially became PawVenturers! We’ve always wondered what PawCation would be like if da kitties joined us. Would they hate the long drive? The new place? Or would they be thrilled to be wif us no matter where we are? So many unanswered questions! So, Mom decided that our mini summer PawCation to Borrego Springs would be a full furSmith family PawVenture—which meant packing up TWO dogs, TWO cats and everything four furry travelers and their mom might possibly need. Mom was especially worried about Lovey. At 16 years old, she has lived in the same house for her entire life and had never visited or spent the night in another home. How would she handle a 2½-hour drive? A strange house? New smells? A completely different routine? Well…apparently Mom was much more worried about it than Lovey was! Lovey acted like she’d been PawCationing her whole life! Napping, exploring the new house, asking for her meals and, of course, cookies—and best of all, we caught her gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows, taking in that big desert sky (in the comfort of her AC, of course!). Mom’s heart was full seeing how happy she was! Mom said we were such great role models that Lovey didn’t have a care in the world. We couldn’t have asked for more! Oliver, on the other hand—you know the little BIG guy at home—gained a new nickname on the trip…Chicken Wittle. Bak Bak Bak! 😹 It’s safe to say Oliver WUVs his home sweet home! But overall, he did well and took his cues from Lovey and us. We’re expert travelers, you know, so we showed him and Lovey how to PawCation like rock stars! His reaction when we got home was priceless, though. He sprawled out on his back on the couch, feet up in the air and all Mom could imagine him saying (if he spoke English), was, “HOME SWEET HOME!” And just like that, Lovey and Oliver put their very first PawCation (of hopefully many) in the books. 🐾 🌌 PawVenturing Under the StarsWhy Borrego Springs? The DARK SKIES! Borrego Springs is a certified International Dark Sky Community! Lucky us, it’s driving distance! We planned our trip around the new moon, which included the best nights of the Perseid Meteor Shower and of course the amazing Milky Way under some of the darkest skies you’ll find. We usually go for day trips to explore Ricardo Breceda’s iron sculptures sprinkled throughout the desert—which we did from the car one day because it was WAY too hot to step on the sand! But it was super fun! We finally found the giant eagle sculpture, and Mom hopped out to take photos in honor of our beloved Jackie the Eagle of Big Bear, who recently passed away and left so many hearts broken. We WUV you, Jackie! You will always be a beautiful example of strength, dedication, LOVE and endurance!
Mom has always told us about the gorgeous night skies, and this time we finally got to experience them too! All we can say is WOWZA. Warm nights and BILLIONS of stars in the sky (once you let your eyes get acclimated to the dark)! Add shooting stars, the Milky Way and the Perseid Meteor Shower and OMG! Is this really real? Staring at the dark desert sky during new moon week is nothing short of magical. You must do it! We helped Mom haul out the cameras and tripods and set them up during the day THEN we stayed up WAY past everyone’s bedtime and photographed the Milky Way, meteors and star trails. We can proudly say we have joined the big paw prints of Scooby as official pawtography assistants!
We WUVed it so much that those beautiful Borrego night skies ended up inspiring something we never expected… But before we tell you about that, our night sky changed in a way we wish it hadn’t. ⭐ Our Beautiful Night Sky Has a New StarOur beloved PawVenture bestie Willow unexpectedly passed away this month. Willow became critically ill after being exposed to chemicals that had been added to her backyard pool. She seemed to be getting better and everyone was hopeful she was going to pull through. Then suddenly, she took a devastating turn and was gone. We are heartbroken. Willow shared so many wonderful PawVentures with us, and we know how deeply she was WUVed by her dad, her human family and us!
We like to imagine that our beautiful night sky has gained another very special star. Now when we look up, Willow has joined Scooby among the stars—watching over all of us and reminding us to keep PawVenturing, keep WUVing BIG and keep making memories while we can. We will miss you Willow! ⭐🐾
✨ And Those Stars Inspired a BIG New Chapter…Those Borrego night skies ended up inspiring the first little symbol of a HUGE change around here—Mom’s brand-new LinkedIn banner. That might not sound like earth-shattering news…but what the banner represents definitely is. For the first time, Mom’s LinkedIn isn’t about Corporate America. It’s about US! After more than three decades in the corporate world, Mom has officially started her next chapter. Mom’s a full-time author and we’re full-time ScoobyLifers now! YIPPEE!!! No more Mom disappearing out the door every morning. No more squeezing Scoobylife, writing, PawVentures® and creative projects into whatever hours were left over. We’re together EVERY DAY! We get to help Mom Write. Create. Take pictures. Publish our books. Build ScoobyLife. Dream up new PawVentures. And—most importantly, according to us—be FULL-TIME furSmiths! We’re pretty sure this is the best career move she’s ever made. 🐾 🐾 Something Else Is Growing Around Here…Apparently all of this wasn’t enough excitement for one month. 😆 We’ve also been working behind the scenes on a brand-new Paw It Forward Kindness Project. We’re keeping the details under wraps for just a little longer…but we’re SUPER excited about this one. More on that in next month’s WUV Letter! 💛 What a Month…A little crow growing his wings. First PawCations. Dark desert skies. Meteors and the Milky Way. A heartbreaking goodbye to a very special fwiend. And a completely new chapter for our little family. If this month reminded us of anything, it’s how quickly life changes. 📚 From Scooby’s Garden Bench to Your HomeIf you’ve been enjoying these little letters, you may love the book that started them. Inspirations from Fwiends is a collection of Scooby and Mom’s photos, along with notes from fwiends, straight from Scooby’s Favowite Garden. We’ve received messages from fwiends who say they read one page before bed each night—like a devotional or gentle reminder to slow down and notice life’s little gifts. And that is exactly what we hoped for—a little reminder to slow down, notice life’s little gifts, and carry a bit of Scooby’s love with you.
🌞 Until the next WUV Letter, dear fwiend —Take the PawVenture. Because sometimes the life you’ve been waiting for is already waiting for you. With love, the furSmith Family 🐾 and happy tails from heaven, P.S. If you know someone who loves animals or might need a little encouragement, you’re welcome to forward this so they can join our Fwiend Mail.
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