Fall Cleaning

Bob and I spent today vacuuming and scrubbing and dusting. We took some of the rugs out to air them out. It always feels so good to clean the house. My mother cleaned a little every day, a someone said, "A floor and a chore." In retrospect it's amazing that my mother was a single mother who worked a full week, and still always had a clean house and a social life.) In fact, the people I know who keep impeccable houses I suspect of cleaning a little every day. Me, I tend to clean in a couple of days. But I've been on the road a lot. So today Bob and I pitched in. The windows are open and the house smells good.

What is it about cleaning? I've noticed that Miyazaki, the Japanese film maker, seems to have a thing for cleaning and putting things in order. In Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, even My Neighbor Totoro, there are scenes of cleaning, cleansing, making things sparkle. It's a sign of goodness in his characters that they bring order. (In the gospel story of Mary and Martha, I suspect Miyazaki's sympathy would be with Martha, the sister who gets chided for waiting and cleaning and preparing instead of listening to Jesus. Mine certainly is.)

Anyway, I now have a false sense that life is somehow orderly. Tomorrow I am back at the airport to travel for work and I suspect that the airport, as always, will dash that illusion. But for now, life seems earned and safe.