October 25, 2010

White Dog and The Other White Dog were in a supervisory quandary. Both Jesse and Adam had arrived at the same time and both had important tasks that needed to be completed to the highest White Dog standards. Jesse was here to defloof the house and do some much needed general dusting, floor washing, vacuuming, and cleaning. Adam was here to look at the shower in my Studio, find out why the hot water no longer appeared, and fix the problem.

How could White Dog be two places at once? Was TOWD ready to solo as a supervisor? If so which task could she trust that he would oversee most thoroughly? Which would he make the best decisions on?

It was decided between them that Quinn would stay inside and keep a handle on the housekeeping tasks since he had seen it done many many times and was familiar with the routine. White Dog instructed him to see me if he thought there was a problem...or better yet, to come and get her for a second opinion.

White Dog wagged her "let's get started" to Adam and they headed out to the Studio. I saw the two of them walk down the driveway a couple of times to get tools from Adam's car, but otherwise all was quiet from the outbuilding. They came in after a while and WD hopped up on my chair to report that everything was once again functional. Adam filled in the details: the shower head had totally clogged with mineral deposits (the Studio is not part of the house water filter system) and the hot water heater valve needed some cleaning/adjustment.

Jesse still had a bit more work to do. Quinn had diligently made sure no hidden floof escaped detection and that all the dust bunnies were herded out so that the vacuum could suck them up. He was doing a fine job and objected when his sister wanted to take over. "You gave him the task," I reminded her. "Let's let him complete it without you micromanaging!" "I just was trying to help," she sulked. "Yes, but it is important that you give him this chance. Let's see what happens."

Jesse finished mopping and started putting things away. The Other White Dog carefully followed her from room to room taking one last look. Then he gave Jesse his head to pet. "Looks like an all's good to me," she laughed. White Dog quietly slipped around and looked before hopping up on the bed and feigning a nap.

After Jesse left, I went in to see her...and to give her a cookie as a reward. "Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stand back and let go," I said, "good job!"