Mystery, Intrigue and Homemaking

I noticed that the vacuum wasn’t doing its job effectively when I was literally going over and over the same spot only to find new and unfamiliar lint and crumbs. In the mundane tasks of keeping the house functional and clean, I had the exciting infrequent duty to change the vacuum cleaner bag. Yup, the one task that reveals all the disgusting grime that my family and friends track in and spread around all contained in one bag.

Wow, I can’t believe how much dirt my vacuum sucks up! I am not sure if it is the Barrow dirt, the baby traffic or the snack-time crumblies, but I swear that dirt weighed 10 lbs. I have never in my life changed a bag that heavy and the scary thing is that I had only changed it 3 months ago! I know that I have vacuumed more since moving to Barrow; the dirt and the grit is unavoidable up here. But Kaia didn’t start walking until just before we moved up; that could also be a large contributing factor.

Ooooh, an intriguing mystery. What is the source of the 10 lb bag? I didn’t want to redistribute that yuck in my house so I got the brilliant idea to throw it off our front porch into the trash bin (conveniently located just below our front porch… welcoming, I know, but what can we do?) Anyway, the bag was so full that it literally popped open with the impact and exploded the contents of our many times dirty home all over the bottom of the bin in one fantastic “Pooof!”

When the dust settled, I investigated the contents eagerly to determine who was the biggest culprit my vacuuming workload and wouldn’t you know it everything in there looked exactly the same… and nothing like what I know I have been vacuuming up. The mystery deepens. What is the source of all this dirt, and how does it transform into a contiguous mass of gray, dusty fluff?

I know I can’t be alone in this so I would sure love to know your thoughts on the matter. If you can't solve it yourself, please share any clues you may find in your own vacuum entrails. It can only help.