Charlie’s Corner is the domain of Charlie, the furry four-legged lady’s man of Market Common. Each month, he’ll share information to help all new, visiting, and existing doggie community members get the most out of life alongside their human companions. Here, we’ll feature his reflections on what it’s like to be a dashing downtown doggie, as he reminds all of us how to play well together.
This month, Charlie turns his pen to other matters besides his column, as he works on strengthening his burgeoning doggie-pen-pal friendship with Ludovico.
For those of your who skipped the introduction to my column this month (I won’t judge you I promise, I sometimes skip intros too), this month I’ve been plotting the contents of my return epistle to my new pen-pal friend, Ludovico. (If you’re out to sea about who Ludovico is, you can catch up on the fun here.)
As I took my daily walk today, I contemplated all the news I could share with Ludovico, as well as the questions I wanted to ask. And by the end of my perambulatory exercises, I had drafted this. You’ll have to give me your feedback, but I think it’s a decent start.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ciao Ludovico, (I learned that that’s the informal way Italians say hello and goodbye so I’m excited to use it.)
I’m so excited that you and your people found my bottle, and even more excited that upon seeing how grimy it was you decided to touch it. You really are fearless! I think it sounds like so much fun that you have a boat. I live by the ocean too, but neither me nor my people have one. I’m not sure if I’d be afraid of boating or not, but I appreciate your offer to calm my nerves, as in general I can be rather anxious. I’ve been told by my vet that I shake because I’m a small dog, but I think the anxiety is compounded by my over-achieving personality and attempt to recall all the rules of grammar when writing my column (which I write on a monthly basis).
For example, I simply cannot remember if the above sentence should read, “me nor my people” or “I nor my people.” But yes, my column! I have my very own in the Coastal Insider, our area’s most engaging, informative and fun publication, and I’m darn proud of it. I remind people and pets how to play well together. I also go on adventures and misadventures and share my reflections on life, the universe and Myrtle Beach.
People are delighted to be privy to the fascinating inner-workings of my doggie-mind. I also adore people in general, maybe because they adore me. Either way, it’s a complete circle of love in which people love to pet me and shower me with compliments like, “Aren’t you adorable!” and I just soak it up like a happy little doggie sponge and shine my light and happiness back on them. It’s a win-win.
I’d love to hear more about Positano. What is it like? Do you have any tasty Italian recipes you can share with me? What do you do with all the fish you and your people catch? What sorts of secrets do you have— are they yours, or are you the repository of others’ secrets? What do you do for fun?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So now all I have to do is roll it up and send it back in the bottle overseas. Hopefully Ludovico is still fishing with his folks and it will find its way back to him.
Perhaps we should consider a more modern method of communication.
I think that’s a good plan. I’ll include my address so he can mail me a letter back.
After all, this is the contemporary age, an era when dogs can have their own columns and you can buy things like kumquats at the grocery store.
Until next time,
