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For Alan, who wondered about my name

When my FarmWife met me, I was Buck. Buck from the Buckeye state. Now, for those who wonder how she justifies changing a fellow's perfectly fine name just because he's joining a new family, please note that FarmHusband changed his new woman's name from Marnie "FarmWife" Jackson to Marnie "FarmWife" Jones when he got her!

So FarmWife, who has always preferred haughtier names for her animals, changed me to Fenway when she met me. It was an insidious attempt to ingratiate me to FarmHusband, a Red Sox fan—you may know that the Sox play at Fenway Park. Anyway, FarmWife's friend Carey Yaruss (of facebook fame herself) said she had always wanted a mule named Bartholomule, and it seemed the perfect noble appendage to my new, sporty moniker. Carey granted permission for its use in light of the fact that she lives in a N.Y.C. walk-up and will not likely add her own mule to the mix without a major geographic change.

In late 2009, there was a move afoot to change me to Fenway Winter Bartholomule Jackson Jones, but it didn't stick. "Winter" was too androgynous for my taste, and Jackson Jones is so vastly less poetic than Bartholomule as a surname.

And so, here I am: Fenway Bartholomule (né Buck). You can call me FenBar, Fennikins, Bart, Barty, Fenmule Bartholoway, or even Fenway, King of the Interwebz. 


A final note . . . the family tree above, which first appeared on Brays Of Our Lives in January of 2010 as a hypothetical lineage, is completely fabricated. Mine is not a family name, but it is a good one.


Ears,
Fenway

Comments

  1. JunieJanuary 14, 2011 at 6:42 PM

    Great post, Fenway.
    Isn't it funny about names?
    I began nameless - a filly of the desert, needing a name no more than the sand or the wind, but upon my initial captivity became "Muffin". I was Muffin for three years, but I only answered to the rattle of the cellophane coming off of peppermint candy. When my new people met me and discussed whether I would live with them they thought Muffin didn't suit me, and I heard Woman and her friend tossing around "Ladybug", June, "Junebug" (I'm cute, you see...) and hitting on "Juniper" which seemed to everybody to fit me better. Now, I feel more "civilized" than captive and I'm seldom called anything but "Junie". "Sweet Juniper" they say, fits my compliant and affectionate nature, but I do still respond to that peppermint sound.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BifJanuary 15, 2011 at 5:33 AM

    Mother debated to stick with the Indian theme, and since I was hard to figure out for the hay men and a son of Target, she thought of calling me Elusive Target. But in the end, she felt that Heartsong (in another language to make it more interesting, and to highlight that part of Nokota history) was better.
    So Chant du Coeur it was. And I am the only horse I know that rocks the name Boyfriend!!

    www.IamBoyfriend.com

    ReplyDelete

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