Spring (Manic) Cleaning

Spring cleaning—that’s what I did yesterday.

I began with my screened porch. It was disgusting thanks to the spraying of kitty litter that stains the deck boards and permeates every conceivable vestibule and crack in my log walls. I scrubbed and hosed and then put their litter box into a huge cardboard box I found in my shed to minimize a rapid return to porch filth.

Then I cleaned the barbeque and moved it out onto the deck from inside the porch to give the cats one less thing to render revolting. Then it was on to the car—inside and out—and the back deck, too. And then I washed floors and windows. I’d lost my workman’s mojo of late, preferring instead to read but I found myself happy to be busy and active on such an inspiringly sunny day.

Then I took Sheba for her second walk of the day before baking myself an Apple pie. I’ve been off sweets for weeks but all the work and sunshine made me feel worthy of a reward. It baked while I did the same in the spa.

I’ll be honest: I did all the work because Sylvie is coming to visit from Quebec in two weeks. I want the place to look nice because she lives in sylvan splendor east of Ottawa in a lovely part of wild Quebec (with a pool in a new built home and wall-to-wall carpets) whereas Pinecone Park is far more cabin-like and rustic.

I was pooped when I was done, so after the spa I donned my sweat pants and pullover and settled into a horizontal position for the evening with my book and remote control.

This morning, I was up very early, still filled with the force of the gods. I chopped some woods, seriously tidied up my utility closet, burned a lot of detritus in the incinerator and washed two throw rugs. Then it was off to walk Sheba with my dog-walking group.

Then it was back to work: A second cleaning of the cat porch, cutting up and bundling all my cardboard for recycling, cleaning the fridge, more carpet washing and more wood chopping. It feels so good to get so much done and to be active in the sunshine.

I work like a maniac! It’s as though I’m on The Great British Cleaning Show and a clock is ticking somewhere. I exhaust myself, but I get an awful lot done. But at 1:30 pm, I was done for the day. After two days of this intensity, I was too tired and tomorrow it’s likely to rain, so I got into the spa and then took a nice leisurely stroll with Her Highness in the sunshine.

Oh … and two things: Six weeks without dope and last night I watched a documentary about cats and, sure enough, a dream about a cat! It’s true: I can affect my dreams!