House Work vs Yard Work

Right off the bat, I'm going to admit that the pictures here are for aesthetic purposes only. I could not bring myself to photograph dust bunnies (or in our case, dust puppies as 85% of what we vacuum up is dog hair) and tiny piles of grass clippings and hay. Our filth is to remain private. I have also determined that if you fill your house with lovely arrangements of flowers in thoughtfully chosen vases, most people will overlook the dirt. 

The central arguement of this blog posting will not be lost on friends and family. It is no surprise when I tell you that in a decision to do house work or yard work, the great outdoors wins every time. Vacuum or mow? Mow. Scrub the bathroom sink or water the flowers? Water... you get the idea.

I think I enjoy a clean house, once the work is done, but it never seems to be done all at once. If I clean the downstairs bathroom, the upstairs one reminds me that it, too, needs cleaning. If I vacuum the stairs, ten minutes later Bob and I and Robin the Good have once again applied a brand new layer of mud or worse. I'd rather be in my studio where the general mayhem is so overpowwered by my creative genius that no one would ever dare to suggest cleaning. I do sweep the floor on occasion...

So acquaintences marvel at our lovely gardens... and rightly so. But they look good because I do spend my time outside, not inside. Who wants to be "dusting" (*1) when it's so pleasant and sunny outside? And not to belabor the point, but it's a hopelessly boring routine doomed to be repeated over and over and over again. So as a friend once remarked: Embrace the Dust! (*2)

(*1) Not even sure what "dusting" is. 

(*2) Our good friend Louise once exclaimed this while living in Santa Fe where dust is just a part of life.