06/07/2022
Pepper died one year ago and finally posting his farewell. Still miss him. Photo courtesy of from 2015.
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Pepper! Peppy! Peepa! Pepperecito! RIP old buddy. We adopted Pepper from a rescue in Vermont in 2008. He came from a kill shelter in Aberdeen, Mississippi. The folks in VT knew he was something special when he appeared on the list of available dogs two weeks in a row - ordinarily any dogs not adopted one week would be euthanized. That was just the first time he cheated death! We went to see him because he had mismatched eyes like Blue, but we adopted him because he was super chill. Some might say aloof. All the dogs up for adoption eagerly ran to the fence when we arrived, except Pepper who hung back, laying on the porch, legs crossed, unfazed. We always said we don't own Pepper, he just lives here, like a furry squatter. There are SO MANY ridiculous stories about Pepper, but a few stand out. The time he carried intact cow leg bones home over a mile, head held high. The time he got stuck in a neighbor's crawl space and then pooped 100% whole peanuts for the next two days. Once we inadvertently put him in a dog run not realizing there was one wayward hen in there who sadly met her demise and Pepper sitting there so guilty with just one white feather stuck to his nose, giving him away. The gifts of the forest he graced us with - a deer antler, a grouse we ate for dinner, and the warm turkey leg that spawned the DNA test. Half husky, half Jack Russle terrier. What?! The report said "may be difficult to disengage from chasing wildlife." More porcupine encounters (and vet bills!) than we care to admit - strictly on Sundays. Once hit by a car. One case of pancreatitis that really nearly killed him after he got into a bucket of pork trimmings on butcher day. We never thought he'd die of old age and here we are burying our 14-ish year old dog, right next to his sidekick Blue. The end of an era. We will miss him dearly. Anyhow, June on a farm is unbelievably busy, so we scoop ourselves up and soldier on.
