January 28, 2021 - Vacuuming the air

 

January 28, 2021 – Vacuuming the air

          Saturday’s Pickles comic strip by Brian Crane, https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/pickles/s-2466382

           Opal is dusting a lampshade while Nelson, her grandson, and Earl, her husband, are sitting in his big stuffed chair reading a book together.

          Opal says, “Look at this! I just dusted yesterday and now everything is all dusty again.”

          Opal complains, “Look it’s in the air, that darn dust is everywhere!” 

          The next strip, you see Opal's rump and her saying, “It’s time to get proactive.”

          The next two strips, “WHOOSH” and “WHOOSH” as Opal is vacuuming the air.

          The ending strip is Earl walking away with Nelson, saying, “I’m all for cleanliness, but when she starts vacuuming the air, it kind of scares me.”

          That is how I feel lately, you dust and ten minutes later, you could dust all over again.

          Opal might have a good idea.

          Couple weeks ago I even went to the trouble of dusting all the ceiling fans thinking that I wasn’t being thorough enough just dusting the furniture.  Did it help?  I didn’t see any difference.

          And, every day, it is winter time – I have sneezing fits. Not just one or two, but four or five in a row.  I have to stop what I am doing – for instance.  I must set down the cup of coffee I am carrying onto the nearest surface or the coffee explodes out of the cup like a volcano due to my sneezing convulsions.

          In the summer, I don’t have these sneezing fits.  I consider it cabin fever cooties.

          Now, that is a blast from the past.  Cooties, we screeched around as children in grammar school when I was a kid.  Back then, it was the boys who had cooties and we stayed away from them.  Just imagine half  a dozen little girls calling all at once “cooties, cooties, cooties.”  I wonder if that escaping cooties has helped us during this covid19 pandemic.  My, My, how my mind wanders.

          Back to the dust and the sneezing. Opal has given me an idea.  When I first bought my Rainbow vacuum cleaner, I used to vacuum the entire house, empty it, and then put fresh water in it with eucalyptus scent in it and then run for a few hours in the kitchen to remove the smells from the air.

         I know I am allergic to most scented oils, but maybe just running the Rainbow after I vacuum for an hour per each room, would take the dust out of the air?   Has Opal put me onto something?  Yes?  Maybe?  I will give it a try.

          Here is to vacuuming the air, “WHOOSH”, “WHOOSH”, “WHOOSH” and “WHOOSH”.