HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
Many scenic towns in America have at least one whacky local who is the self-appointed official greeter. Here in Oak Bluffs we have two: Mulligan, who is so happy to see you, he flaps around as if he’s about to launch himself over the rooftop, and his best friend, Dinah, who is more sedate but who stations herself at Mulligan’s side in the role of adoring first lady, much like Nancy Reagan was with Ronald.
If you travel into town daily and walk or park north of the commercial block on upper Circuit avenue, you pass Mulligan and Dinah behind the white picket fence of Good Dog Goods. At first you might miss Mulligan, big as he is, because he somehow blends with the meshed-wire topiary dogs stashed around the enclosed yard. But soon Mulligan disengages from whatever crazy adventure he’s having — snuffling after a lost cloth turtle toy buried under a log, digging a hole to doggy wonderland, securing the rear perimeter from terrorists in the Camp Ground, and he flies like a Wright Brothers floppy, homemade plane to meet you at the fence.
Mulligan is a Gordon setter and belongs to Kerry Scott, owner of Good Dog Goods. Kerry has raised Gordon setters for more than thirty years. She told me that the breed tall as a basketball player when standing on hind legs, with a yard-long tail and frowzy ears nearly as long — was the original model for Disney’s Goofy.
It’s funny how Mother Nature designs dogs just right, because if Gordon setters weren’t as silly and caring and dopey as they are, they’d be unmanageable. We can only take so many joyous hugs from a Gordon setter, but you bid him adieu knowing you’re truly loved, and not just for your pretty face and your big bank account but for the inner you.
Dinah, once she’s got you inside the yard, is more circumspect and maneuvers at a prim three-yard radius. She’s a gorgeous Airedale; her owner is store manager Mary Orcutt. On the day that I visited last week, Dinah wore an olive fleece jacket so perfectly tailored to her curly amber and black torso that she knew instinctively she need not hob-nob with Islanders who’ve just thrown a few layers of winter clothes over their pajamas.
If you bring your own dog past Mulligan and Dinah alongside the fence, they will bark in outrage. Understandable. But both dogs are fine about playmates being introduced into the garden from the back door. On the day that I visited the shop, Mayna Lopez came in with her elegant black Lab mix, Coco, who was Mulligan’s first love before daily doses of Dinah turned his head. Mary McManama showed up with her Pomeranian, Trixie, who looked saucy enough not to mind getting mauled by Mulligan.
I can’t wait to arrange a match between Mulligan and my Boston terrier, Huxley, who thinks he’s the size of a water buffalo with the feint-and-parry abilities of Muhammad Ali. Kerry assured me Hux would be safe with Mulligan, but my concern will be for her own big goofball.
People are writing to suggest wonderful ways to make this the best part of our year. Cathy Maniewicz of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club recommends a trip to the New England Flower Show in Boston on March 17, organized by Sandy at the Tisbury Council on Aging; the phone number is 508-696-4205. Even more enticing is a plan to visit the gardens of the Delaware Valley in May, arranged by the Polly Hill Arboretum. Call Karen at 508-693-9426.
Children are invited to bring their favorite stuffed animals to the Oak Bluffs Library on Friday, March 4 at 4 p.m., for a sleep-over (for the stuffed pets, not the kids, although I know some wives who wouldn’t mind dropping their husbands off). In the morning, families picking up their stuffed pals will be treated to a light breakfast. They’ll also be able to view the animals’ nighttime antics (climbing the shelves, reading to each other) by video cam. Call 508-693-9433 for information.
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