Mystery solved

After a couple of very intense and productive work days with my Peachpit colleagues in Berkeley, I got up early yesterday morning so I could drive my rental car back to the San Francisco airport in time to catch my plane back to St. Louis.

The plane was delayed, the takeoff was delayed, the arrival was delayed, so it was after 7 pm when I landed in St. Louis. I had left my truck across the river in Illinois and taken the brilliant St. Louis Metrolink to the airport, which meant I faced an hour long train ride from the airport back to the commuter lot. Twenty some stops later, I threw my suitcase in the bed and my computer in the cab and commenced the final leg, an almost two hour drive home to Carbondale. It was a sultry late spring evening and the drive through the countryside with the windows down was pleasant but long. Let's just say I was tired when I got home.

Around midnight I was unpacking my laptop in my quiet, dark office. I looked over at my desk and was repulsed by what looked like a puddle of dog puke right next to my inbox. I couldn't believe it. Why, (and much more pertinent, how) did Sami our dog get up on my desk to throw up?

Without thinking, I put my finger in the substance. It smelled sweet, almost pleasant. That meant it wasn't dog puke. But what else could it be? I glanced at the ceiling to see if there was any kind of leak. Negatori. My mind turned to the supernatural: maybe it was some kind of manifestation from a poltergeist. I was too tired to worry about what caused it, much less clean it up so I went to bed.

This morning I realized in an instant when I saw the package of Airborne tablets I had set out to pack before I left on my trip. They're supposed to guard against bird flu and other bad stuff in stuffy airplanes. I had placed two tablets on my desk to drop into a glass of water right before leaving for the airport, and in my usual rushing around before a trip, had forgotten to take them.

In the rainy, rainy last few days those tablets must've absorbed the moisture in the air and grew into a puddle that looked a lot like dog puke. Only a prettier yellow.

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