Spring Cleaning

I like the first word of my title today. Everything looks clean and fresh, the buds get fat on the trees and even a few flowers show up! But, in the year 2019, we don’t think about spring cleaning any more. I don’t know why either. The drapes get as dusty as they did back in the good old days, the windows certainly needs washing after the wind, rain and snow of winter and the bedding needs some work too, so why not have a good old spring cleaning and get it all done at once instead of spreading it out?

In the old days, and I’m nearly 93, Mama made the announcement at the supper table. “It’s time all of us get to work on spring cleaning. Let’s start tomorrow with taking the stoves down and cleaning the stove pipes. How does that sound?”

Dad and the kids looked as if a rock fell on their heads. Otherwise, they were quiet for a change. They weren’t ready for bad news.

Finally, the second child, was brave enough to open his mouth. ” Do we have to mama? It seems way too early  doesn’t it?”

He said those words very softly for him, who usually yells!

It wasn’t long before everyone was asking the same question, but to no avail. Mama had her mind made up. Spring Cleaning was definitely on the schedule.

The following morning, the family was coughing black dust a whole lot, as Dad and the oldest boy carried the living room stove outside so Mama and the girls could wash it and put stove blackening on it. They didn’t move the kitchen stove out because Mama would have to cook on it, even on the hot days of summer! They did have to clean the stove pipes though, and that meant moving the pipes a little so they could hit them getting the dusty, black stuff all over the kitchen floor.

Next came the carpets. they had to be hung on the clothesline and all the kids in the neighborhood had to whip them hard, making dust fall over the yard and the kids too! It’s hard to figure out which got the most whipping, the carpets or the kids! The windows weren’t bad, especially when the kids could shoot water at one another. Mama and Dad washed  all the walls in the house, even painting some of them. And Mama washed all the curtains, drapes and bedding. Oh yes, don’t forget the mattresses. We all had to help turning them over  every year. Mama had one last thing to do. She took the pail of Lysol water, the broom and the “Monkey Ward”, that’s what we called Montgomery Ward, catalog from winter, the spring and summer one had already arrived, and headed out to the outhouse. she used the broom to kill any little spiders and their webs, and then she washed the whole room. The last thing was next. She slowly walked over to the nail in the wall and hung the “Monkey Ward”catalog on the nail.

The day I remember most was when I returned from school and stepped inside the house. First, I noticed the smell of the old fashioned Lysol. The whole house smelled clean! I still like that smell! The curtains in the shining windows looked brand new, as did the carpets. The furniture shined so much you could use them for mirrors. Even the stoves looked great. I hoped the house would stay that way forever. Spring cleaning had lasted a whole week, A whole week of hurry up dinners and sleeping on the floor, but it was worth it. Mama had a great supper to celebrate too!

Perhaps we too, in 2019, should have a spring cleaning on our hearts. It wouldn’t hurt to let a little sunshine in. Maybe our hearts have gotten black and dusty. It sure wouldn’t hurt to let more of God in, would it? And just imagine how good it would feel when we are all done. We would want it to stay forever! And it could too, you know!