Sunday, January 16, 2005

Out the Other Side

Sometimes I think that when I want to simplify your life, adding a lot more chaos temporarily clarifies priorities mightily. And so it was with us. After the literally bloody disaster of yesterday, today we all cleaned and chilled. When it comes to blood spattered walls, dogs can be most helpful.

Cleaning tip, remembered from the bad old Buppy days and reinforced by emergency room personnel: hydrogen peroxide takes blood out. This tip is particularly useful for fabrics. Spray on upholstery and dab blood away. Soak favorite jeans and wash in cold water. Sadly, the large rip in the knee is not so easily put right.

The jacket I have been wearing lately is the fluorescent green of tennis balls. It was one of the items I bought in my last stock-up-on-warm-things spree in New York, the same spree in which I bought three sets of silk long underwear. As I recall, the jacket cost a whopping twelve dollars, and now I wish I had bought one in every eye-popping color. Once I read the cleaning instructions—do not wash….do not dry clean—the price became more understandable. It’s disposable! I will, of course, try washing it someday, but so far, the blood has sponged off nicely. A cozy fleece lining, some kind of fluffy fill, and an exterior shell of PVC. Yes, my jacket and my plumbing are made of the same ever-wearing plastic.

Dogs had a quiet day, gamboling in the snow with apples, snoozing in front of the fire.

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