The Axis of Ego

I guess the first thing I should say is that it will come as a surprise to most of you that this is not actually an article about my love of pork products.

I’ve been fostering dogs for Bonnie Blue Rescue for about two years now.  The first year went as I expected: I would receive a dog from the service, and, a short time later, the dog would leave me to go on a trial visit that inevitably became a permanent arrangement.  A “forever home” in the parlance of the industry.

Credit: Emily Nolte-Shotwell

The length of time a particular dog stayed with me varied.  Sometimes I would keep the animal only a few days if he were in transit.  Sometimes it might be over a month, especially if the dog were too young to be adopted immediately.  More often than not, each animal remained at my house for two or three weeks.

That was the first year.  Things have been quite different in year two.

Whereas more than a dozen different animals stayed with me during my first twelve months helping Bonnie Blue, the second twelve months have been occupied by a single creature: A dog named Bacon.

Bacon came to live with me last February, when his name was still “Mick Jagger” for some unknown reason.  He is a dachshund / beagle mix who stands about a foot off the ground at his highest point and tips the scales south of thirty pounds.  “Bacon” seemed a more appropriate name for him.

Bacon traveled to Virginia after being thrown from the back of a moving truck by his previous owners.  He not only survived the incident, but he miraculously suffered no serious injuries, possibly due to his unorthodox body type (he and I have that in common).

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