Taking The Long Way Home

I blame the couch. It started all this... all this... nesting. The old couch was a smelly memory, gifted to a happy couple in a smelly house some weeks ago. Our empty living room became the Hooping Room, where I could practice my clumsy hoop-dancing moves while watching Oprah on one of the two channels we get in the house. It was perfect. Then Deborah sent me a link to a couch for sale on Craigslist. Green leather, near us in Taos, and only $75. I had said it out loud, I want a couch . And while I wasn't specific about the color and fabric, here was the answer to my request--a good sturdy couch at a price I could afford. We drove out to see it, and brought it home to live with us... even though it's green leather. Leather is a tricky thing for vegans. We, mostly I, don't eat meat or other animal products, except for the rare special occasion cheese splurge. Rick, it turns out, is one of those people who craves a good chicken mole enchilada periodically, and I can't fau...

We have begun the destinkification process on the couch. No, it's not a real word, but it's the right word. Our big, soft, brown couch became a dog bed while we were away. Maybe a cat bed too. And a scratching post. Maybe even worse. Day after day I go in the house, and see the sun streaming into the living room, and think how nice it would be to stretch out on the couch with my computer, or a book, or just a cup of tea. And then I get close to it and catch a whiff of pet stench, and go running for the door. No wonder we can't sell the house. That couch has some seriously bad juju. We only leave it there because it fills a large space and makes the place look somewhat lived in and homey. But if we're going to reclaim the house as even a part time homey hangout, we're going to have to do something about that couch. Rick went to the tack store yesterday and picked up a gallon of enzyme pet-odor-eliminator. He put it in his big pump-up yard sprayer gizmo, and we dra...