February 12: Went to Work, Cleaning, Thankful

I like Mrs. Zuckerman.  Before Wilbur goes to the Fair, Edith Zuckerman insists on giving him a buttermilk bath.  She can't stand the crust of dried food around his ears and smudge of manure on his side.  She's a neat freak.  She can't even stand a dirty pig:

...Mrs. Zuckerman wasted no time.  She climbed in with Wilbur and went to work.  Dipping her paddle in the buttermilk, she rubbed him all over...

Wilbur is literally shining in the sun when Edith is done with him.  He's the cleanest pig at the Fair Grounds.


I just spent two hours cleaning my house.  I cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed the carpeting, and swept and mopped the hardwood floors.  I am exhausted, but I can smell lemon in the air.  There's blue in the toilet bowl.  And the drying rack by the kitchen sink is empty of dishes.

That's what I'm thankful for this Wednesday night.  A clean house.  It won't stay clean for long.  I have two kids.  One is a sloppy teenage girl who drops her dirty clothes in the middle of the floor.  The other is a five-year-old baby dinosaur who leaves destruction in his wake.  By tomorrow night, my living room will be as dirty as Wilbur's manure pile.

But, tonight, Saint Marty will revel in the scent of citrus and Lysol.

Pine-Sol, anyone?