ON THE ROAD: WOMAN'S BEST FRIEND (Excerpt from New Audiobook)

By Cal Orey

Like a wayward honey bee in flight, in early fall I traveled through the New England states and two provinces—Quebec and Ontario—with my Lhasa apso/Maltese, Tiger. He was sweet and bold. I had rescued the white shaggy-haired pooch in Washington State, where blackberry honey is popular. It was this Bohemian lifestyle—hitching rides with my dog and eating a simple, natural diet (including honey when I could afford it)—that kept me lean and healthy.

    With my white fluffy, fun-loving pooch in tow I headed toward Canada. (I had to smuggle him into the country because I didn’t have paperwork that was required.) Once we crossed the border, the closer to the city we got, the more disoriented I felt, not accustomed to being like a honey bee in a swarm. The locals spoke fluent French. (I did not.)  The street signs were foreign and the metric system on food labels confused me. I was lost, cold in the mornings and nights, but I had my warmhearted dog that was American.

          One night my canine companion and I spent the night in a forest off the main road. We snuggled up in my sleeping bag. Another creature comfort I enjoyed was the foods I guarded stuffed in my backpack: fresh fruit, nuts, whole-wheat bread, peanut butter—and a jar of clover honey. It was a reality TV show real-life moment when I used my finger to scoop out the creamy butter and gooey honey. And yes, I shared a bit of honey, butter and bread with Tiger (today reminding me of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who was fed a honey cake). *Click on image of book and listen to a sample.

          Tiger and I had cuddled and slept in the backyard of an estate on the outskirts of Quebec, on beaches in Mississippi to the Florida Keys, on an Indian reservation in Arizona, in a cornfield in Kansas, and in the back of a pickup truck under the stars at a motel in Tennessee. From rest stops to national parks, this dog and I were inseparable, like bees and their beekeeper. Tiger was my protector and sounding board. It was comfort foods, honey, peanut butter, and whole-grain crackers from the United States, that didn’t spoil, kept me energized—and I shared with my best friend.

          And while I didn’t know it then, later on as a health author I learned I was eating foods of the Mediterranean diet—heart-healthy honey and peanut butter (in moderation) with a dog that provided heart health benefits, too, by keeping my blood pressure down during stressful and lonely times. 

Wheel of Misfortune, Leaving Las Vegas

I faced sweet and bitter experiences on my road travels, like a honey bee in flight; I was stricken by untimely challenges. On afternoon in Las Vegas, Tiger and I were in front of Lady Luck Casino. It was my idea to leave my long-haired partner in the shade with water at the doorstep of the entry way while I tried to hitch a safe ride back home to California. As I was walking inside, an older man called out to me, “Nice dog!" I got an uneasy vibe but tuned it out.

Fifteen minutes later, I left the casino. My beloved companion was MIA. Shocked and disoriented like a beekeeper with stolen bee colonies, I stood outside in the hot sun. I tried to fight back the tears. After a long search through nondescript streets and talking to people with unknown faces--there was no rescue. My canine buddy was gone. I cried all night long.

At dawn, at a café I ordered a cinnamon roll, tea, and honey. I was like a devoted beekeeper without his bees. I was alone. It was one of the worst experiences I endured on the road. And flashbacks of our travels from coast to coast haunted me then but now are cherished memories of a dog and a girl—an amazing human-animal bond. I left a photo of me, the hippie girl with her dog in Ontario, on the bulletin board at the local animal shelter in Vegas. Through all the pain and loss, I moved on.

A few months later, fate paid me a visit. A black Labrador pup with soulful brown eyes came into my life on the road. We rescued each other at Ocean Beach, San Diego. We bonded instantly like a beekeeper with new queens, and Stone Fox and I, California Butterfly, continued on our journey together.

(Excerpt from The Healing Powers of Honey, published by Kensington).