Dogs Playing Cards Anyone?

I found myself thinking lately that with all of the partisan political turmoil and tragic violence we have witnessed of late perhaps we could use a bit of levity here?  With that in mind, thought I'd share a funny personal story here with you.  You see, we are in the process of moving again, which usually equates to a lot of stress.  Well in light of our impending move my husband has taken it upon himself to go through the house and "down-size" (picture this being said in a serious, deeply husky voice with focused intention). "Down-size" seems to have become Ken's new mantra, while mine is "I will survive" --I packed nearly every single box for our move across country and it seems as if I will be doing almost the same this time around.  In any event my daily query something to the effect of "Hi, honey, how are you today?" leads to the predictable response from Ken of "Down-size, down-size."

Every time I am away from home Ken seizes upon the opportunity to purge, not fully realizing that if you throw away something I/we need, I will have to go out and buy it once again.  How is that in anyway cost effective, I wonder, while simultaneously thinking the need to purge must be hard-wired into the male of our species? Every  once in awhile I will come home in time to inspect the newly assembled mountain of 'trash' resting on the curbside.  In these rare instances, I will quickly take stock of those items designated for timely removal from our household possessions.  Occasionally I will find something that doesn't belong in the trash.  In these instances I will pull those items back out and stack them in the garage for packing.  My husband has zero sentimentality.  There is not a sentimental bone in his body, so I really have to watch what he decides to throw out.  The other day, I found a few sentimental items resting in the trash pile, among them was a black trash bag tied securely into a double-knot.  Judging from the dust resting upon the bag, it was evident the bag had not been opened in quite some time.  The bag was heavy, with a folded heavy-weight 'blanket' something inside.  The odd thing was that this bag had not even been opened, which made me wonder how my husband had reached the conclusion that this particular bag needed to be tossed out?  In any event my sixth-sense alarm was going off, so I pulled the bag out of the discard pile and opened it up.  Inside I found a huge wall tapestry of "Dogs Playing Cards."  This tapestry had been Ken's most prized bachelor possession, next to his booming stereo system and candy-apple red, souped-up "Camero" car.

Remarkably, we have somehow managed to keep hold of this tapestry for years, from move to move --even across the entire country-- mostly for sentimental reasons.  Necessity dictated, however, that the tapestry could not have a place on the walls in our current residence --hence the double-knotted black trash bag-- but I had kept the tapestry just the same.  This tapestry was a huge part of who Ken was when we first met and while his other wall adornments had TO GO (I'll leave those to your imagination), Ken and I had both agreed that "Dogs Playing Cards" should stay.  Needless to say, I pulled the tapestry out the trash and safely stored it in the garage, in the "Do not touch this!" area -- off-limits to Ken.  Then I proceeded to give him a call at work,  whereafter I began to loudly chastise him for carelessly throwing away items of sentimental value, his "Dogs Playing Cards" tapestry being among them.

"You didn't even realize you'd thrown your tapestry away, did you?"  I inquired, the stress of closing on a new home and packing for the move no doubt exacerbating the intensity of accusation.

"Nope." Was Ken's  succinct reply, which probably stoked the fires of my intensity all the more.

Meanwhile in the background I hear Ken's co-workers laughing their a**** off.  The thought of Ken being chastised by his wife for throwing his old bachelor tapestry of "Dogs Playing Cards"  was just hysterical to them.  Apparently one guy even fell completely out of his chair he was laughing so hard.  What can I say, apparently "[I am] not your typical wife?"  I'll take that as a compliment.

In closing I am left wondering what even is the meaning behind this image of a bunch of dogs playing cards, anyway?  Maybe that's the whole appeal from the simple male perspective, the fact that there isn't any meaning to be found in this well-known image. It's just a couple of 'guys' having a good time, nothing more, nothing less.  So what was/is your most prized bachelor possession? Did your significant other let you keep it?  What if anything does that say about you both, individually, and about your relationship in general?  Well, here's to the Dogs Playing Cards ... Life in the moment, right? Because at the end of the day, that's all any of us are ever promised.

Tip of the iceberg ....


5/6/2019  Up next on my busy schedule:  Finding time to read the infamous "Mueller Report."  Have any of you read it yet???