the great bedsheet mystery

Sunday was another gorgeous September day--sunny blue skies with a few of those puffy white clouds, a light breeze, and a temperature of about 76 degrees. Perfect.

I decided to make good use of the weather and hang some laundry out on the clothesline for the afternoon. Well, first I hung the clothesline, stringing the fresh white rope between two obliging trees in the backyard near the house, and then I loaded them down with just-washed sheets. There's nothing quite like sleeping between sun-dried sheets; they smell so fresh and clean.

While they flapped in the breeze, I puttered around the house for awhile, then took off on a brief pilgrimage to the grocery store. When I returned, it was early evening, and time to bring in my laundry and make my bed. Mmm. I was already relishing the prospect of sleep.

As I began to remove my dry laundry, I noticed something peculiar. The white mattress pad, which had been clean-looking to begin with, now bore an odd array of dirty light brown patches, scattered over several square feet of cloth. How on earth?...

I have no near neighbors, no road capable of flinging dust onto my sheets from a passing vehicle, no large, dirty dog running around the yard, no one trying to mow the lawn and riding through on the tractor, no small children ramming around. Had the mattress pad somehow gotten dirty on its journey from washer to line, and I just hadn't noticed? I wasn't sure how that would be possible.

As I (with a grumble or two) returned the mattress pad to the washing machine for another go-round, a possible cause struck me. Will I ever know for sure? Probably not, but it's my best theory to date.

I think it was a deer.

As I've noted, they've been particularly bold lately, feeding on my lawn at all hours of the day--even in the bright afternoon sun. They get quite close to the house, and the clothesline wasn't there before. Perhaps a perky faun had a surprise run-in with my laundry. Hmm. If so, it's too embarrassed to tell me.