Monday, March 20, 2006

Spring is here...why doesn't my heart go dancing?

“I’m as restless as a willow in a windstorm…I’m as jumpy as a puppet on a string…”

Old Rodgers & Hammerstein certainly had a way with words, didn’t they? The next line is “why should I have spring fever when it isn’t even spring?”

Well, today is the first day of spring…the Vernal Equinox. Today there will be as much light as darkness on our planet. Long ago, this solar event marked the time when farmers began planting their crops and it was looked upon as a time of renewal.

Animals awaken from hibernation or give birth to their young and we humans experience a spurt of energy from the increased daylight and warmth.

In the past, most housewives would observe a ritual known as “spring cleaning”. They’d haul the carpets out of the house, hang them on the clothes line and beat the accumulated dirt and dust from them with a batlet, a device that looked similar to a heavy-duty fly swatter.

Floors would be swept, then scrubbed. Linens would be taken out, inspected for damage or wear, then repaired or discarded.

I caught a little bit of the spring cleaning bug myself yesterday. No, don’t call the EMT’s-- it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just that whenever I walk downstairs, the first thing I see is our living room. It also happens to be the first room any visitor to our front door sees and they can see it quite handily though the window next to the door. The thought of someone catching me at home and seeing the FEMA site that was my living room, was enough to give me a bad case of hives.

That room has been a wreck since mid-January, when the undeserving relative came back to roost in our house and deposited about thirty square feet of boxes, containers and a TV set smack in the middle of the room. It took eight weeks to remove and only then when one of the furbabies mistook a moving box for a litterbox.

This event coincided with the purchase of a new vacuum, the old one having died a painful death by asphyxiation. Frequent ingestion of hairballs made up of the combined fibers from cats, dogs, bunnies and the odd sheep matted with pinestraw will do that.

Happily, the room is now clean, and with the exception of the top of the piano and the Big Chair, tidy. We even decorated a bit. My treasured Talavera plate from Mexico is holding court above the fireplace and at her feet are several of the tiny, fantastically painted animals wrought from the hands of the Huichol people that dh collects. Standing guard off to one side is a Talavera pitcher and on the other is a balsawood frog using a leaf as an umbrella.

Now, with that giant slain, Dona Quixote’s next windmill to tilt at will be the downstairs bathroom. But that’s a story for another day.

4 comments:

Mouse said...

As someone who has killed many a vacume cleaner with pet/human hair.. I would highly recommend the "One Sweep" broom from tv. Its a rubbery broom thing that you sweep the carpet with before vacuming and it picks up the hair. You can find them at Bed,Bath & Beyond for about $15.00 with those coupons you get in the mail (they take the coupons even if they are expired too.. helpful hint. They really work well.. and are great for steps too. (I so wish I was getting commission from selling these things.. lol)

Cinthia Hamer said...

Hi Mouse~~

You know...I bought one of those things about two years ago...and decapitated it...the handle snapped right at the base where it attaches to the broom part. :-( So now, I just use a regular old broom and whisk through the room before I vacuum.

Michelle said...

And I've seen the photos! :) It's all looking very lovely and colourful.

As for the bathroom.. good luck with that one!!

The Book Fiend said...

I HATE the whole "Spring Cleaning" bug - I always feel guilty for not eeling more motivated to actually get off my a*se & do the housework (oh, I'm such a slovenly woman!). It certianly doesn't feel like Spring here, but my mini daffs decided to open their buds this morning & welcome the Spring. It's much warmer in my living room than it is outside - the ones out there aren't even daring to peak yet!