Having light travertine floors with the wolfies is truly Sisyphean.  Of course in Greek mythology Sisyphus was condemned by the Gods to push an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down; repeating this action for eternity.  Futile labor is a hideous punishment.  In our defense the floors were like that when we bought our house.  In fact our bedrooms came with oatmeal colored carpets (eek!) and thankfully after several years we had them replaced with “wood”.  It is a constant battle, as their paws are huge and they cannot help tracking in dirt and mud when they come back inside.  I have attempted to wipe their feet before they come in (picture attempting to wrangle excited small horses) and it has just gotten me knocked over and subsequently French kissed.  I’m not quite sure which is the most traumatic.  I have tried dunking their feet in a bucket of water to rinse off the dirt.  (So picture the first scenario but just add water which now I must clean as well because it, too has been toppled over in their haste to come inside).  I have even gone so far as to put socks on them but to no avail.  Then I got this mat thinking I was so clever.  (That should have been my first clue.)  It is big and lives in our laundry room placed right where they go in and out the most.  Oh the brilliance!  The microfibers and whatever else revolutionary and miraculous was going to catch all that dust, dirt and mud right when they reentered the house.  What I had not counted on is that their stride is so large they pretty much miss the mat in its entirety.  The British Labour politician Arthur Henderson once said:

“Therefore, let us not despair, but instead, survey the position, consider carefully the action we must take, and then address ourselves to our common task in a mood of sober resolution and quiet confidence, without haste and without pause.”

I have tried not to despair, I have surveyed the position, I have considered carefully the actions I must take, and I have attempted valiantly to address this almost Herculean task with the aforementioned sober resolution and quiet confidence.  Now I believe I am just going to sit back and take a pause from muddy paws.