You know what delights me, though, in all this primeval purity? is that I can hide the red silk amaryllis flowers I bought to top my silver candlesticks (and decided they were over the top), and the rag rug to my deck door floor, and the dirty childrens’ socks I’m too tired to take downstairs (or yell at the kids to take) beneath the blanket folded in the basket by the couch, and no one knows.

It balances the fact I didn’t kick my daughter’s trail of dry oats behind the loose baseboard in the kitchen–I actually swept it up like a good mama. One can only take so much.

M: musical
N: nosey
O: obliging