OK, SO THE
BLOOD-CURDLING SHRIEK coming from my kitchen and the sounds of running feet
probably shouldn't have surprised me yesterday. But it kinda' did.
Let me 'esplain.
My MaidBrite cleaning ladies were making their monthly stop to scrape and polish my condo yesterday. I THOUGHT I had everything prepared for their visit: Dog in his cage. Check. Ferrets in the basement. Check. Cats doing whatever they were going to do anyway. Check. Me stashed away up in my Man Cave. Check.
My cleaning ladies—let’s call them Elpidia, Maria and Delores -- entered and in their usual efficient hustle and bustle, proceeded to clean this pile from top to bottom. In my spoken-if-broken Spanish, I explained that everything was fair game, but (a) they should give up trying to clean my office and just scare the carpet with a vacuum. "Solamente aspirada en mi officine. por favor," I told them. Oh, and (b) don't go near the basement door, I added.
Safely ensconced in my office, one of the ladies – Elpidia -- tended to her upstairs cleaning duties. Maria and Delores tackled the downstairs.
About 20 minutes into the cleaning cycle, I heard the afore-mentioned blood-curdling scream from the kitchen, which was then punctuated by the sounds of dropping cleaning supplies and running feet.
I went downstairs, not sure what kinds of hellish carnage I'd see.
It seems that one of our ferrets, Kringle, heard the cleaning crew's commotion, and had been scratching at the basement door. A lot. Maria, being curious and thinking perhaps a cat was trapped in the basement, went and opened the door. Bright-eyed little Kringle greeted her and went to sniff her ankles.
Let me 'esplain.
My MaidBrite cleaning ladies were making their monthly stop to scrape and polish my condo yesterday. I THOUGHT I had everything prepared for their visit: Dog in his cage. Check. Ferrets in the basement. Check. Cats doing whatever they were going to do anyway. Check. Me stashed away up in my Man Cave. Check.
My cleaning ladies—let’s call them Elpidia, Maria and Delores -- entered and in their usual efficient hustle and bustle, proceeded to clean this pile from top to bottom. In my spoken-if-broken Spanish, I explained that everything was fair game, but (a) they should give up trying to clean my office and just scare the carpet with a vacuum. "Solamente aspirada en mi officine. por favor," I told them. Oh, and (b) don't go near the basement door, I added.
Safely ensconced in my office, one of the ladies – Elpidia -- tended to her upstairs cleaning duties. Maria and Delores tackled the downstairs.
About 20 minutes into the cleaning cycle, I heard the afore-mentioned blood-curdling scream from the kitchen, which was then punctuated by the sounds of dropping cleaning supplies and running feet.
I went downstairs, not sure what kinds of hellish carnage I'd see.
It seems that one of our ferrets, Kringle, heard the cleaning crew's commotion, and had been scratching at the basement door. A lot. Maria, being curious and thinking perhaps a cat was trapped in the basement, went and opened the door. Bright-eyed little Kringle greeted her and went to sniff her ankles.
It was at that point that Maria screamed, threw down her basket of cleaning supplies, and ran into the dining room. Upon my arrival on the scene, I wasn't prepared for the sight of heavy-set Maria running into the dining room, being playfully chased by a small, white, furry Kringle. "Ratones, ratones!" (Rats! Rats!) Maria yelled. "No me gusta!"
I picked up the ferret, assuring Maria that it wasn't a rat, and that it was in the same family as weasels, wolverines and other small predators, "No es una rata! Eso es una ferret... un depredador muy pequeno! Eso es la misma familia de weasels i wolverines!" I assured her.
Elpidia, who had also come downstairs by this time, and Delores, were falling over with laughter at the sight of their hefty compatriot chased into the living room by a 11-ounce ball of animated fur.
Unfortunately, in her haste to exit the general area of the basement door, Maria had left the door open. Hearing the general sounds of riot and rout from upstairs, our little bandit-furred ferret Widget decided to investigate as well. But instead of heading to the kitchen, as Kringle had done, Widget headed straight to the living room and up to Maria.
Maria screamed again, and (I SWEAR she set a new standing broad jump record vaulting over an ottoman!) ran straight out the front door. Elpidia and Delores, still weak from laughter, followed after her.
I never DID get my living room carpet completely vacuumed that day, but who cares? Got a free floor show with my clean condo!
