Hope for us all.

Feeling run down by the fast and the flashy? Ever feel your mojo questioned in in a room of tepid energy? Do you howl when others may yip? Do you treasure the simple moments in lieu of a flurry of indulgence. Chances are you have an inner beagle baying to get out and lick someone's face.

This simple beast of burden is best remembered as Charlie Brown's sometime loyal companion, the free-thinking Snoopy. Snoopy's legacy was that of an independent canine who didn't need much to have a happy existance. I think this is a life lesson for us all. Making our own kind of music, singing our own special song; great ideals from Mamma Cass and embodied in the spirit of the beagle. Snoopy would be our personal ideal until yesterday.

Photo; Sports Illustrated

Yesterday at the 2008th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Garden, a fifteen-inch beagle named "Uno" won the coveted Best In Show. This win marks the first recognition for a beagle since 1939. The WKC Dog Show is the ultimate in dog showing and the second oldest countinuously held sporting event in the United States, second to the Travers Stakes held for thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs, NY. Of the 2,627 other entries, the 169 breeds and varieties Uno came to be the best beating out a repeat Standard Poodle, a prize-winning Sealyhunter, and an Australian Shephard. Uno did this with a constant moving white-tipped tail, gleaming eyes and a low bark. Now and again, a nip on his leash, and a spring from his hinds this beagle Uno embodies what we all should; compromise on your own terms and even the hyper have a place. Let's all take a lesson from Uno today and know that everyone has a chance at Best In Show. Get out there and jump up on someone we love, bonus points if they don't expect it.