The View from Here

  Leaves?! It’s time to play! 
I am on the couch this morning after downing a muscle relaxer and taking a hot Epsom salts bath. I did myself in all weekend, working like a madwoman, deep cleaning the house, raking/sweeping the yard and decks, doing laundry, bathing the dogs, grocery shopping, yoga…all things I love, but my back is not so sure anymore. Dan was gone Friday until Sunday evening working the Kentuck Arts Festival in Northport, and I got it in my mind that I would have everything perfect for him when he got home from a tough weekend doing sound for the musical groups at the festival. I have now altered my perception of what perfect means to me. 

I scrubbed, I dusted, I polished, I switched our summer bedding over to the cozy flannel sheets and comforter of fall and winter. The dogs are clean (at least for a day or two), the couch covers freshly washed, floors vacuumed and steam cleaned. I cleaned up enough dog hair to make two more dogs…just amazing to me that Coops and Sophie even have hair left of their bodies.  Heck, I even made a veggie lasagne to surprise Dan with for dinner and didn’t even set of the smoke alarm. That’s an accomplishment for me where the kitchen is concerned.  The guilty party…

  It actually tasted great!

I swept all five decks and made my way down the side yard, front yard, down the thirty-two steps to the street and swept the leaves on the street in front of our house, filling up six fifty-five gallon leaf bags in the process, working until the sun went down. When I looked around to survey my work, a few insolent leaves had fallen on my otherwise pristine yard, but it still looked great.  

  
 Coops ‘helping’ me by catching leaves as they fall…

Kasey surveying my work from her heated bed…

I went inside and and beamed- it was sparkling clean, fresh, and smelled wonderful (thanks to the lasagne). I made the decision that I would not be able to let the dogs back into the house. Ever. It was so quiet, so peaceful. Dan came home and the dogs and I made him feel welcome (Coops won, because she drops to the floor and rolls over for a belly rub…my back was toast, so that was not an option for me). We had dinner, catching up on our weekends. The couch pillows got moved around, the dogs jumped on the clean couch covers (leaving hair behind, I have no doubt). There were dirty dishes and a big load of Dan’s laundry to do from his trip. 

  
And you know what? It was absolutely perfect. I’ll take the chaos and mess of my family over a “perfect” home any day. Those few minutes of perfection? They were nice, but it’s sort of like a vacation..good to get away for a little while, but there’s no place like home.