The carpet cleaners came

And did a far better job than anyone else ever has. They squeezed us in for the sake of our coming family and didn’t even give me an estimate on fanning the rugs dry; no time, they were off to another job. Don’t put the furniture back for eight hours and cover your feet with something newly clean if you have to walk on it.

Other than opening a window, we didn’t.

Richard was immersed in his laptop and I wordlessly showed him the picture I’d snapped after they’d left. He squinted at my phone’s screen with a “What’s this?”

“Parcheesi!”