F.S.S.

Today in her blog, Funny the World, Bev wrote about a malady she and her husband have.

"Around here," she writes, we call it 'Flat Surface Syndrome.' People "with F.S.S. have this strange aversion to seeing any bare flat surface, so any flat surface becomes a place to lay 'stuff.'"

Oh dear! Her diagnosis of F.S.S. was a direct hit on me! As I sit in my living room, typing on my laptop, every horizontal surface in sight is covered, some to the point of the danger of slippage and/or collapse. I hadn't thought about the benefit mentioned by one of her correspondents that F.S.S. alleviates the need for dusting. At least that's a positive side effect.

She points out, too, that those afflicted can usually find whatever it is they've lost in the "stuff". It may take some time, but we can usually identify the proper pile.

F.S.S. has played a part in the type of appliances we have purchased. For years, I had a top-loading washing machine and had to keep it bare. But now, at last, I have a front-loader, leaving the top surface free as a place to store the laundry basket and the detergent. And, of course, I could never had had a chest-type freezer. It would have quickly become inaccessible. And, naturally, the top of my upright freezer is filled almost to the ceiling.

I wonder if there are meds for this syndrome, or perhaps a 12-step program. I do know that it's genetic (sorry, girls). It's said that the first step on the road to a cure is to identify and acknowledge the disease. Somehow, I do not foresee a cure in my case - I guess I'm doomed.

Today's photo is a fall rose at Studio 2.