Have
you ever stumbled across something located so out of place that
you began questioning everything?
I
mean, everything.
I
mean, completely, to a level where you find yourself wondering
if memory and judgement issues might be worthy of noting at your
next visit to the doctor?
Not
putting the keys on the kitchen island instead of the hallway
table near the front door moment. I mean driving along the main
roads in the Florida Keys and seeing a wild panda waiting at an
intersection to cross the road out of place.
Questioning
everything.
We
all have those absentminded days. The ones where we wake up, stumble
into the kitchen and try to make some coffee. While the water’s
heating up, we realize we can’t find any half and half, or even
the mug we thought we had put out before starting the water. After
spinning around to take in all the counters, we add half and half
to the shopping list, then grab a cup from the dish rack and the
milk from the fridge.
About
two hours later, we wander to the kitchen for a drink, find a
coffee mug in the fridge and a carton of half and half in the
cupboard. (And the worst part comes two days later. That’s when
we’re standing in the middle of the dairy section and can’t remember
if we actually do need half and half.)
Where
I’m headed is stumbled hip deep into it, what the blankety blank
blank is going on kind of moment.
A
few hours ago, I was mowing the lawn. This run has been one of
those every-other lawn mowing efforts, where I not only mow the
lawn, but take the extra time to get the small paths between the
garden fence and the shed, break out the weed whacker, and yeah,
the complete lawn mowing experience.
That
means moving a few things around so I can cover all the corners.
Propane tanks for the grill pulled from against a wall and garden
hose dragged out of the way. You get the idea. And as I was working
on clearing some things out, I found a face cloth on the steps
of the deck.
A
face cloth.
On
the deck.
Like
I said… what the blankety blank blank?
I
don’t know about you, but towels and face cloths basically move
from the closet to the shower to the laundry hamper. The full
coverage of their adventures around the house involves going from
washer to dryer. We do have old towels around the garage and on
hand for those unexpected moments when they might be needed, but
this was one of the newer face cloths. It’s a limited circle of
movement.
And—because,
of course—now it’s bugging me.
Have
you ever had a dryer sheet fall out of the leg of your pants or
hanging on to a shirt? Ha ha, happens on occasion, right? Sure
does. But towels and face cloths, when not a load all of their
own usually get tossed in with sheets, and… and…
Like
I said, it’s bugging me.
I
won’t pretend I’m the most organized of people. I’m more accustomed
to operating in a my desk, my mess, I know where everything is
approach. Tell me what you’re looking for, and I can find it.
When
you live with someone else (or more than one additional someone
else), you also find yourself growing accustomed to where they
place things. For instance, if my wife ends up with my car keys,
I know they will never make it back to where I keep them. But,
I do know where they will be when I need them again, because I
know where she’ll put them.
In
a house of multiple people, you also get used to certain things
moving. Television remotes. Need I say more?
And
then there’s that coffee mug. I get that trick as well. Because
it isn’t what was lost, it’s where it was found. All of us do
stupid things and misplace objects or forget where we dropped
them. Then we shake our heads and move the pieces of our world
back to where they belong.
If
the facecloth had been in the living room, near the chair where
I end up folding laundry, I wouldn’t pause for a moment. Would
have just folded it and put it away. Same if it was on the ground
between the washer and dryer, at the bottom of a laundry basket
I had thought was empty, or even on the floor of the tub. No worries.
Might have surprised me, but it wouldn’t seem unusual.
That
isn’t the case here.
Heck,
even if I did somehow manage to get one mixed in with the laundry
heading out to dry on the line, that’s the other side of the yard.
I’ve headed to the line and found socks and all sorts of stuff
I never knew I mixed in with the stuff I was going to dry outside.
I feel certain I would definitely have spotted it while hanging
the laundry, but more to the point, there is just no reason for
it to be outside on the steps of the deck.
Seriously,
I would be slightly less stunned to find a pillow case on the
steering wheel.
I
don’t know if it really is something worth mentioning to my doctor.
I don’t know if there is some rogue chipmunk expanding runs into
the house and making attempts at returning with treasure. I don’t
know if there is some blindingly hysterical and yet fully understandable
reason for what happened.
But
something happened.
That
face cloth was on the steps of the deck. I may not understand
it today. But I’m watching things a bit more carefully right now.
(I think.)