On the Shelf

Dear Second Sider,

It doesn’t take long in talking to me to know I’ve traveled quite a road over the course of my life. I’ve seen and experienced things that certainly shaped the stories I tell. The Matta Goose Stories are no exception.

There are little moments that I can see real moments that I’ve experienced. For example –

The Story of I Love Coffee

As you know from the previous paper, my dog Sophie inspired the character of Petra.

I will admit to being an avid coffee drinker. I blame the long hours of the film industry for me getting into the caffeine riddled drink in the first place. Now, I can’t live without it.

One day I was on my couch watching football (of course) and Sophie sat down next to me. She kept staring at my cup of coffee in my hand. She had never seemed interested in it before and I was convinced on lick of it and she would lose interest.

“You won’t like it,” I said as I held it out to her.

Boy, could I be more wrong. She started licking my coffee… and didn’t stop. I was so surprised that she got 6-7 licks in before I pulled the cup away.

Now, this is where I’m going to tell you that caffeine and dogs don’t mix. (Nor did I know that prior to this experience) She jumped from the ground up to chest height. Which might not seem that big of a deal until you realize she’s a minpin at 8lbs. After an hour of doing this insane behavior, she completely crashed out. I thought for certain I was going to have to rush her to urgent care.

Luckily, she finally drank some water and returned to normal.

Let’s just say, I will never let a dog have coffee ever again!

Puddle Jumping

I never had a name for this fun activity when I was a kid, but I had to walk roughly a half mile from my house to the bus stop. On rainy days, I might whip out the umbrella to keep me dry, but you can bet, the puddles that collected throughout the road were mine for the jumping on my way home after school! Sure, my socks got uncomfortably wet, and many times I had mud up to my knees – but I also had so much fun dancing in the rain and splashing in the puddles.

Animal Bathing

This is, of course, another Sophie story. I have collected quite a few while she was with me. Growing up I had several dogs who loved water. Sophie was the first who hated it. Trying to get her in the tub for her biannual baths was like going to war with my worst enemy!

Scratches always laced both of my arms and many times I was sore from struggling to get her into the tub.

Once I finally got her in, the death glare she gave me – every time, I thought for certain she would never talk to me again. I’m happy to say she had a short-term memory and we were always fine the next day.

It’s amazing, as a writer, how it’s the little things that creep into your stories to round out what becomes real events on the page. In so many ways, I appreciate that Matta and I had similar experiences. Even if she prefers tea over coffee, she and I still have quite a bit in common.

Maybe that’s why she came to tell me all her stories in the first place?

She certainly has more to tell, for sure. Hope you’re ready!

Until next time we meet –