How do we know?

Last night I put leftover angel hair pasta into a glass container with a lid that just sits on top. I prefer glass to plastic, when possible. I balanced it on top of a dog food container. Does anyone else have trouble organizing a refrigerator? I seem to always be putting things in layers on the shelves. It was late when I did the balancing act, and laughed at myself, saying I would probably open the door too fast in the morning and it would fall on my foot. I went to bed.

This morning I got up and opened the door to get out the dog food. No problem, no spills. I was proud of myself. Later on, I went back in the fridge for veggies. I have to make extra dog meals this week since I will be in AZ next week. The glass container fell out, landed hard against my ankle, and spilled all over the inside of the fridge and on the floor.

The decision as to when the fridge and the floor get cleaned is an easy one, this time. Molly and Baby did their best to help me out, of course, attempting to eat the pasta out of the fridge and off the floor. I just watched them while keeping my other eye on my ankle. I never really noticed bruises can sometimes present a green hue first. It's currently a pleasant shade of blue/purple, and swelling up to be sure I don't forget about it.

I have been wondering for a while how we know when it's time to do something. Cats will sit in a room, sleeping peacefully on the floor for six or eight hours without barely moving a whisker, when they will suddenly jump up, all alert, and skitter sideways at high speed to another location. There is rarely any obvious reason to us for this action. How do they know it's time?

Remember how your mom could be reading the newspaper and she would suddenly jump up and corral you to help her clean the linen closet? How did she know it was time to do it? Does some little timer go off in our brains?

When we are hungry, our tummies growl and complain. If we continue to ignore them, they get louder. When we are tired, our eyes droop. If we continue to ignore them, they close. But what calls us to the windows? The linen closets? The drawers?

Just how do we know it's time to clean the basement? Or the garage?

Some people are very regimented and actually do plan out things like, "On the first of every month at 6 pm I will clean the garage. Rain, snow, sleet. Doesn't matter." Most of us are a little more lax.

I am guilty of this too. I can be contentedly reading a great book, curled up with the dogs, having a nice glass of something wet and cold, but suddenly I will decide it's time to vacuum the carpets or I absolutely have to be sure the bathroom is presentable.

What motivates us to suddenly walk away from something else to do a mundane chore?