I am getting a tiny bit less rigid about having no contact with others  than I was in the beginning, way back almost a year ago when this coronovirus hit. Hard to believe I’ve been almost totally in my apartment – literally not going to the store, ever; not having anyone over, rarely; wearing a mask when anyone delivers a package or food, and so on – for this long. Good thing I love my apartment.

One thing i am noticing is dirt that’s collecting more aggressively on the rug in the spots where I sit all day. What, you may ask, am I doing sitting all day? Cruising the web, writing stuff, getting up and down for tea, snacks, meals, bathroom breaks, exercise.

Speaking of exercise, I missed my step and zumba classes terribly.  So for the first several months I worked out fairly vigorously to videos on YouTube. Found some rockin’ music and followed along, pretending I was in the class with them. Eventually, this wore thin. You need real people in class to give you the motivation.

These days, I read my Kindle propped on a stand while I step side-to-side on a thick rubber kitchen mat. On the days I do it at all. My FitBit Charge 3 tells me I’m getting steps and achieving “active minutes,” so who am I to argue?

Back to the dirt. I began to notice the rug was starting to look a little disheveled. I worried the crumbs and loose hairs were clogging up the fibers of the rug and would undoubtedly hasten the end of its best foot forward.

I normally get some help with housework but for several months, I didn’t want anyone in my house and many folks had no interest in going into other people’s homes.

Unfortunately, my closet is so jammed  that it’s hard to drag the vacuum out. Early on, I bought a nice hand-vac that I’d use to suck up the obvious chunks of debris on the rugs and on the other hard-surface floors like in the kitchen and bath. But it has limited ability to suck up embedded stuff, so eventually the dirt started to taunt me.

One day I got down on my knees – a serious commitment since getting up these days is a project. I’d already energetically applied the hand-vac and now I used a brush. Wow, who knew I’d been molting! And of course my hairs are extra long these days, with no hairdresser assistance, and I was shocked to find many of them somehow weaving themselves into the fibers of the rug. Reminds me of one of the many reasons I don’t have a dog. Then I started noticing them woven into my hoodies and other upper body coverings.

New helper comes now, and she vacuums well. It looks better, But having been down on my knees playing dirt snoop, I know it’s time. Anybody know of a good area rug cleaning company…that will also move furniture? I’ve got my double mask ready.