海角大神

For all those who celebrate, tomorrow, April 22, is not only Earth Day but also .

And in my household, we will celebrate. Big Henry has joined legacy dogs Lucy and Chester to round out our beagle pack.

Actually, we鈥檝e had Henry for a while. But at first, we didn鈥檛 think he鈥檇 stay. Longtime readers know my wife works with a rescue group, and we foster a lot of beagles. They come, and then they get adopted by somebody else. That鈥檚 the way it鈥檚 supposed to work.

It didn鈥檛 with Henry. Nobody wanted him. They came to see him and he wasn鈥檛 little and merry. He was big and clumsy. He looked like a Labrador in a beagle suit. Potential beagle adopters were envisioning ... something else.

Labrador people were hesitant too. He was big but had no interest in chasing balls. And boy can he howl.

What he was, was sweet. He would wait until Chester and Lucy had all the people time they wanted. Then Henry would crawl onto the sofa at the end of the day and lay his head in somebody鈥檚 lap.

Finally, somebody indicated interest. My wife and I tossed and turned all night. Next day my mother-in-law was aghast. 鈥淲hy he鈥檚 part of your family now!鈥� she said.

We kept him obviously. In the business, they call that a 鈥渇oster fail.鈥� Chester and Lucy were foster fails, too.

So happy Beagle Day to all, and especially to Henry. He shows that whatever American Kennel Club rules say, dog breeds aren鈥檛 defined by looks. They鈥檙e defined in the heart.