Sponges are funny things. They come in all manner of shapes, sizes and colours. They're very amenable, ready to serve whenever needed and never complain. Indeed, a sponge can sit for days on end, usually when we forget where it is, calmly watching its world go by without even a twitch. Always ready, however, to respond at an instant to any household emergency.

It wipes, it washes, it absorbs, it cleans and when we wring it to within an inch of its existence, it smiles and does it all over again.

Ah, yes, the sponge is a valuable companion. Bath Sponge is full of fun. It squidges and suds and playfully bounces from the walls without danger of damage - to wall or bath occupant. Such a friendly thing.

Outdoors Sponge is a robust creature. Put it in a bucket of cleaning concoction and it effortlessly creates glimmer from grime, converting the much loved but well-used family sedan into a Chariot of the Gods, a Head of State's limousine, a veritable Rolls Royce in a sea of Mitsubishis...but I digress...

My son has a sponge in the shape of a dolphin. It didn't mean to look like a dolphin - that's just how it ended up after being thoughtfully picked and plucked by industrious little fingers.

Dolphin Sponge has quite an interesting time. Apart from replacing the Teddy Bear as my son's sleeping toy, it chases the cat - being tossed, of course, by those same little fingers - and just last night accompanied my husband on fire-fighting duty! How exciting it must have been for that little Dolphin Sponge to ride in a fire engine, sirens blaring, peeking out from my husband's pocket at searing flames. I chuckle when I think of how that little Dolphin Sponge must have longed to help "mop up" after the hoses were turned off.

He arrived safely back home and into the hands of the little boy who created him, eager no doubt, to embark on another exciting adventure.

Ah yes...a world without sponges would be a world so sadly less... "spongy".

There's something in that for all of us, don't you think?

Cheers.

Carol Dorman