It’s the season. Get on with it!
It’s springtime in Atlantic Canada and that means it’s time to clean.
Like many customs we learned from our elders, spring cleaning is not something to be shunned or taken lightly. It is an annual ritual, handed down through the generations. Spring cleaning is serious business. It isn’t just expected, it’s almost revered.
Spring’s arrival means a fresh beginning for most of us, and nothing says a new start better than a tidy house. As my grandmother was fond of saying, “A clean house gives you a fresh perspective.” She wasn’t wrong.
Keeping her philosophy in mind as the calendar heralds the arrival of spring, every room must be stripped of its contents and cleaned from top to bottom. Windows are opened to expel the stale air of winter as we welcome the refreshing spring breeze into our home.
During spring cleaning, the walls are washed down to get rid of the cobwebs and the mats are hung on the line so the floors can receive a good scrubbing. It’s also expected that windows are washed, inside and out, while every piece of linen and bedding is laundered. Winter clothes are mostly put away, replaced with lighter spring items, and every knickknack, big or small, is dusted before returning to its place in the just-cleaned room.
Under my grandmother’s discerning eye, there could be no shortcuts. She spotted even the smallest speck of dust.
This annual routine is methodically carried out until every room in the house is emptied and thoroughly scrubbed. That is the Saltscaper way.
Today, the ritual of spring cleaning has become more complicated as we have accumulated so much stuff that it boggles the mind and clutters the house. My grandmother would cringe at the stuff piled here, stuff stashed there, stuff stuffed everywhere.
Our world is bursting at the seams with stuff. There are stacks and piles of stuff that has sentimental value. Stuff that may have monetary value — to someone, perhaps. Stuff that has historical significance or at least family heritage value.
And then there’s lots of stuff that most likely has no value whatsoever, but it’s stuff that we just can’t find the heart to throw away.
We have an unhealthy obsession with stuff. Our society is built to accumulate stuff, but if you want to spring clean like a Saltscaper, it’s part of the ritual to weed out the stuff, keep what you really need and get rid of the rest.
Here’s a simple rule my dear grandmother imparted many years ago when my sister and I would help spring clean her house: “If you haven’t used something since the last spring cleaning, then it’s time to get rid of it.”
With that philosophy in mind, here’s my grandmother’s sage advice for when you’re cleaning. Make three piles for your stuff: stuff to get rid of as you never use it, stuff that still has some value so it can be donated, and stuff that you just can’t part with.
But, as my grandmother would then quip, “Do I really need it?”
Spring is a good time to clean house figuratively and literally, she’d point out. So, like any good Saltscaper, roll up your sleeves, check your sentimentalism at the door, and get on with it.