Talkin' Shit About A Pretty Sunset

I've been the owner of two beagles in DC for long enough to make this accurate generalization: African American men over the age of 60 LOVE beagle hounds.

I've walked my beagles nearly every day though Washington DC for seven years. Often, there will be a 60+ black guy out front sweeping his porch or something and he'll stop what he's doing and say, "Those beagle hounds?" I'll respond, "Yea, they are." Old black man: "Those are good rabbit huntin' dogs. Good dogs, they are." Then he'll keep looking at my dogs wistfully, I'll thank him for the compliment while dragging the hounds away from whatever crap they're trying to eat off the sidewalk.

This happens so frequently when in the presence of an elderly African American male that I can predict it while walking toward such a man. And my wife commonly has the same exact experience.

My neighborhood is 70% black and there are lots of retired folks living around here --- people that probably remember when you could take your shotgun and go rabbit hunting just down the street. And surprisingly my neighborhood is now quite urban --- a 25-minute bike ride from the White House. I can't imagine what it was like back then.

Whenever I get a compliment from an old black man about my dogs it makes my day --- like I own REAL dogs, not just distant members of some canine species that couldn't survive outside an average suburban living room.