Goose Whats??

Why on earth would a blog about dogs be named for the back end of a goose?

Excellent question, the answer to which takes me back to 1999, when I was living on a small lake in Northwestern New Jersey with my two Dalmatians, Pirate and Marci. (And here comes the disclaimer I am always compelled to offer about Marci: I adopted her and that's the name with which she came. I accept no responsibility for its choosing.)

There were geese on this lake. There are a lot of geese in New Jersey, for some reason. Pirate and Marci would watch them intently from the deck, or inside, from the large floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the water. They were so fascinated by them that I started watching too. The three of us would just sit and watch the geese. It became a bit of a game.

(Disclaimer #2: you might as well know right now that I'm crazy. It will make this and future posts much easier to take if you just acknowledge it from the beginning and don't spend a lot of time questioning my behavior. The behavior of crazy people cannot be explained logically.)

So, the game. The geese would, of course, as all geese do, plunge their little goose heads into the water, sending their little goose butts straight up into the air. When this happened, Pirate and Marci and I would excitedly yell, "Goose Butt!!" It was great fun, the Goose Butt Game. We even played it when friends came over, and I am happy to report that at least two of those people were not scared away and are still my friends today.

The term evolved then, into an endearment used when the dogs were acting silly, which was most of the time: "You girls are such goose butts."

I have had a lot of goose butts over the years, the largest and goosiest of whom is Phoebe. All this time, always the desire to write, the endless fodder they have provided me, and it has taken Phoebe to actually get me started. Because, let's face it, she takes the fodder to a whole new level.

But I knew I had the right name for the blog when its explanation allowed me to start with Pirate. She was the canine equivalent of a soul mate, a concept that true dog lovers will understand and others will not. She was special on her own, but she was even more special to me. I miss her....but she sent Petunia to me and they talk every day, so I know she's still close by.

That's probably another post altogether. :-)