His Dogness

Left on my own, I tend to be a slob.

For many years, I would let my house fall into ever greater disarray as the work week progressed. Then, on Saturday, I would spend two hours straightening and cleaning.

It was a pattern that allowed me to be a slob yet not stray too far into chaos. And, back in the days when Sparkle Girl, Doobins and Garnet were coming over to my house regularly, I was fairly good about staying on top of things.

In recent times, though, we have fallen into a habit of spending most of our time together at their house. I seldom straighten and clean, and disorder has come to reign supreme. It’s fine with me personally, and His Dogness doesn’t seem to mind.

But it can be a problem when I have unepxected guests. As it happened, Sparkle Girl and Doobins ended up over at my house the other day when the house was in its natural state. I knew that Sparkle Girl would notice the mess but I wasn’t sure about Doobins. I had my answer when he announced from his perch on the couch, “It sure is messy here.”

A little later, Garnet came over. I warned her at the door. She slowly strolled through the house taking it all in. That came as no surprise. What I didn’t see coming was Sparkle Girl taking on the role of tour guide. As they moved from room to room, Sparkle Girl would point out things that she thought Garnet might not notice on her own or that she thought were particularly worthy of mention.

The highlight of her tour was the rug in the hallway. Perhaps, it has something to do with the physics of air flow. Maybe it’s the fact that four rooms open onto the hallway or that it’s a relatively small. I don’t know. What I do know it’s a favorite gathering spot for dust bunnies whose principal ingredient is dog fur.

As they stood in the hallway, Garnet leaned over so that Sparkle Girl could whisper in her ear. Afterward, Garnet stood up, nodded knowingly and said something.

I couldn’t hear any of the words but I didn’t need to.

I congratulated myself on having, earlier in the day, taken the time sweep up the baby powder that I had spilled on the bathroom floor. I shudder to think what Sparkle Girl would have had to say about that.