Desks and Pets by Kaye George

Kaye George, an Agatha nominated short story writer, is the author of CHOKE: An Imogene Duckworthy Mystery (Mainly Murder Press), as well as A PATCHWORK OF STORIES, a collection of her previously published stories, and THE BAVARIAN KRISP CAPER, available at Untreed Reads. FISH TALES: The Guppy Anthology contains her story, "The Truck Contest". She reviews for "Suspense Magazine", and writes for several newsletters and blogs. She, her husband, and a rescued feral cat named Agamemnon live together in Texas, near Austin.

Homepage: http://kayegeorge.com/

Blogs: http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com/, her solo blog, and http://allthingswriting.blogspot.com/

Desks and Pets 

by Kaye George

That's the theme, right? A picture of my desk in its normal state is below.  There was a time in my life when I would have cleared it off and given you a view of pristine, maybe even shining surfaces. But I outgrew that long ago.

When my children were young, they played in the living room. They're part of the family and I never saw any reason they couldn't play in every room of the house.  Consequently, their toys were on the living room floor during the day. I really did pick up almost every night. Otherwise, the house would have become unlivable. But my housekeeping was, well, relaxed.

(I read a report in the newspaper once of a home robbery. The police were alarmed at the ransacked condition of the house at first, but later, according to the article, it was decided that only a few items had been taken and the general state of the house was due to "relaxed housekeeping." I liked the term so much I adopted it as a lifestyle. Sounds nice, I think.)

Sometimes friends would come over and, occasionally, comment about allowing my children to play with their toys in the living room. I decided that was a service I was providing other young mothers. They could compare their housekeeping to mine, and it would make them feel good about themselves. A humanitarian project, really. Glad to be of service.

Such is my desk. I'll bet you feel good about yours after seeing mine.

I'll end up with a picture of Agamemnon, my twelve-year-old rescued feral cat, enjoying the t-shirt I brought home from Left Coast Crime. Everyone likes it, including Memnon. He likes to lie on top of my shoes, mostly, but will take in a t-shirt for variety.

You can also spy him in my desk picture. That's his usual spot when I work. He's a good old guy, keeping me company. He knows who feeds him.