A New Low

Sometimes I have to sweep my arm across the top of the kitchen table to make space for a meal. To say I’m not averse to clutter is an understatement and it’s a big table — but today was over the top, even for me. It contained these things:

Cordless phone handset

“Spanish Reading and Comprehension” workbook

Favorite tea mug

Cell phone with attached ear buds

Note reminding me to remember my daily meditation exercise

Pile of napkins

Salt and pepper shakers

Five writing implements: a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, and three mechanical pencils

Splendor, a game

Most recent copy of One Story, a literary monthly periodical of fiction

Headset for aforementioned cordless handset, neither connected to or even near the phone

Small pile of papers waiting to be scanned and emailed to the CPA for taxes

Current issue of Sunset magazine and another of Consumer Reports

Carafe of water

Ratty fur weasel, the dog’s favorite toy

Small colorful handmade quilt, folded into a neat rectangle

But the two things that make me seriously question my core values:

The dog’s toothbrush and toothpaste — plus a plush cat bed, complete with a sweet and slightly demented, seventeen-year-old snoring cat.

I may have hit a new low.