Have you ever had one of those experiences that both appeals and excites at the same time? Well, I did.

I’ll never forget late last summer when I decided to take a nice, long mid-day nap after having worked several hours on my vegetable garden. I remembered the day was a very hot and humid, and my body was as sweaty and fatigued as it had been in a long time. As a 31 year old divorceee with no children, I live alone in my house, unless you count my cat, Mantissa, and our newest “family” member, Barney, who is my year-old Golden Retriever. (My husband hated those pets and the feeling was mutual!)

Uncomfortably hot and barely able to hold my body upright, I decided to remove all my filthy clothes, slip on a cotton sun dress and lay on my thick-carpeted floor since it was a tad cooler down there. I typically sleep in the nude, but with my body still drenched in sticky sweat, the last thing I wanted at that moment was to have floor filth stick to me. Ah yes, wearing only a comfy sun dress would give me enough freedom I needed to sleep soundly, yet it would keep my body from serving as a magnet for fur, crumbs and whatever else my carpet had attracted since I last vacuumed.

It didn’t take long for me to fall deeply into sleep; pure exhaustion from working in the heat and humidity will do that to a person. In fact, the last thing I remembered before my eyelids closed was seeing Barney kneeling by my side and studying my face in the funny, curious way that dogs often do. I slept soundly for the next hour or so until, in my half-asleep, half-awake state, I felt something unusual between my legs that had clumsily sprawled out during my slumber.