Control is Overrated

Abe (hereafter referred to as Bubber-boo), Gouda and I are team Shake Daddy’s Center. It’s awesome. Daddy (aka Steak Knife or SK) throws his weight around and Bubber-boo, Gouda and I all disregard most of what he says. At one moment in time, Bubber could be playing in Gouda’s water while Gouda chews on something he’s not supposed to and I lackadaisically sit at the table and listen to All Things Considered while sipping on my tea with my chin is my hand quietly muttering things we need to get done over the weekend. Steak Knife clarifies that “we” really means “him” while ripping the non-chewable away from Gouda and scooping Bubber out of the dog dish. Or that moment could look this way: Gouda is trouncing around with his leash in his mouth playing Hot Lava while Bubber-boo is turning the television on and off and on and off and on and off while I make a list of whatever I’m making a list of that day (my favorite past-time, List Making). Or: Gouda and I are playing “I Want That Bone!” and racing around the house, up and down the stairs while Bubber-boo plays with his train in a way that was “not intended”, according to SK.

All of this is incredibly disconcerting to Steak Knife. You see, if you know him well, you also know that he likes things a certain way and all of this frenetic activity kind of sets him a little off kilter. He seems to enjoy the “non-centeredness” that he experiences by living in our household of lunatics that slip easily from moment to moment in disarray. But it also makes him really tired sometimes. I think it takes courage to live a life that is slightly uncomfortable to you but really reaps the best rewards; one full of love and compassion and noise and clutter. I could honestly see Steak Knife, if we hadn’t met, living a solitary life of books, music, slippers and a big leather chair to enjoy all of these things. Maybe a fine luxury car and time to write too. His home would be organized and warm, but quiet. But he chose our life full of dirty floors and lists and wet arms from the dog dish and mats that need brushing and sheets that should have been changed LAST WEEK, let alone THIS WEEK. Such a lucky man, he is. I think he’d say so too.