Year of the Woolly Quadruped

Here we are at what some are calling the Year of the Sheep, others the Year of the Ram or the Year of the Goat.

If it is the Year of the Sheep, we enter sheepishly, hoping not to get shorn. Some astrologers predict that having sheep as our lunar mascot will lead to "a kinder, gentler year." May we remind you that the last person who promised us "a kinder, gentler year" was George W. Bush?

"Goat" is a bit stronger, but "goat" is now a term generally applied to football coaches who call a pass when their team has first down on the one-yard line.

And speaking of football, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Rams says, "There is no bleating way we are changing our name to the Los Angeles Sheep."

For those of us born under the sign of Capricorn, both goat and ram work. Hard to picture sheep leaping from mountain crag to crag. Of course, being a black sheep has a certain attraction, especially for those of us who also identified with the Year of the Snake.

What do we predict for the Year of the Sheep? That a lot of mutton stew will be served in 2015.

Or curried goat.