Lt. John Dunbar (played by the yummy Kevin Costner) is dubbed a hero after he accidentally leads Union troops to a victory during the Civil War. He requests a position on the western frontier, but finds it deserted. He soon finds out he is not alone, but meets a wolf he dubs “Two-socks” and a curious Indian tribe. (source http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099348/plotsummary)

The Sioux Indians watch him from a distance and give him the nickname “Dances with Wolves.”

That’s the kind of name that can stick with you. Kinda like the time when I was newly married and wanted to plant a vegetable garden. We dug out the area in our back yard, went to the garden store and purchased what I thought was a flat of tomatoes. I was partially correct. There was one tomato plant in an entire flat of star flowers.I never did live that down and from that summer on, my new neighbors knew me as “Farmer Deana.”

I’ve had other nicknames in my life. My grandfather used to call me “pumpkin” and in college I was known as “meep meep” or road runner.  My boys have even had their share of nicknames from Chuckles to Dill Pickle. Nicknames can be a term of endearment and they can be a reminder of our less than graceful moments in life. My husband had a friend in high school whose girlfriend called him “snoogie-bear” in front of everyone. To this day I do not know the mans real name, they just call him Snoogie.

Which brings me to a very delicate issue.

We have a new home in a cove on Lake Hudson. We are the newest and youngest couple there and we have a beaver living under our dock. My neighbors told me to buy a 22 and just shoot the thing myself.

I’m going to be totally honest, while I’m sure I’m more than capable of hunting and killing this rodent – the only reason this beaver is still alive is because I’m surrounded by rednecks and I’m afraid of the nickname. I’m not intentionally trying to be crude here, but there really is no polite way around this – I really do not wish to spend the next 40 odd years of my life being known as The Beaver Shooter  because let’s face it, that’s the kind of name that can stick with a person, you know?