October 1, 2016 – Fall is in the air – which makes me turn to Fall Cleaning 

          At the top of today's to-do list:  #1: Straighten up the dining room.

The dining room seems to be a catch-all for everything from the garden, kitchen, bedroom, and shed. It has been on my work list continually for weeks.  I have a chance to catch my breath today, and I will devote a couple of hours to it.

          My dining room has an outside wall with a single window in the center of that wall.  Flanking the window are two bookcases that have filing cabinet credenzas in the bottom. And, I have attached a shelf between the book cases so that the space below the window allows for a double row of notebook binders.  My GardenGate magazine collection, [I am only missing one issue since its inception] and my archive binders of assorted materials are stored there.  I’ve told you I was a pack rat, now you can truly believe me.

          Of course, what do I unearth first? 

          A “speed cleaning guide” compliments of the magazine REAL SIMPLE.  So, I stop and read it.  YEAH – we will try that program again.  It makes sense; I'm not sure how I failed to do it the first time.  It says I can have an entirely clean house in 19 minutes a day.  OKAY – I am ready for that challenge. But, first let me get the dust off my books and rid this room of clutter.

          Oh, this is interesting something sticking out of my Audubon Book on Birds.   How odd, a Western Union Mailgram?  WHAT?  I don’t remember this . . . has life been such a blur . . .  has it passed so fast that I don’t remember half of it?  The faded sprocket-hole edged paper that purports to be my sender’s copy of a Western Union Message to my grandmother on my father’s side in 1981:  How archaic is that?

          “Grandma,

          Happy 80^th Birthday

          Sorry we can’t be with you.

          Love . . . . “

          We lived in Seaford, Delaware at the time.  Seaford is not a metropolis, but it is the home to E. I. DuPont.  So, my grandma on my father’s side lived to be over 80 – as evidenced from this relic of my past. My father died at 89, my mom is now 92, and a few days ago I had a milestone birthday.  There certainly is LONGEVITY in my family on my father’s side and my mother’s side.  I guess I am going to be around for another several decades!

          How sad for me my life back then zipped by in a Nano-second.  Years ago I had not lived in the “present” and life slipped past me too fast while I was trying to climb the corporate ladder in my career. 

I silently vow to be more “present” in the future in order to savor all that life has to offer me – including the bitter with the sweet.

          After this little respite, I attack the dining room with a vengeance.   

          

         I have the spray wax on hand and now I stand back,  It smells clean and everything seems to be put in its place.  But, out in the kitchen is a pile of stuff that I have to decide to toss or stash elsewhere. Well, no time like now to get rid of some of this useless bilge.   Out, out, and out it goes.  That takes care of three fourths of it.  Then, that goes in the shed because it is out of season, and that goes in the mudroom.   . . . GEE, I’ve wondered where that was for the longest time. That is one mystery solved.

          More dusting and straightening of books on the books shelves.  OH, I’ve a little prentation folder which contains about 25 of those plastic sleeves that hold papers that has slipped down and is slightly curled up.  The folder has a mixture of things I have snagged from magazines, and the like.

          In the front sleeve, is my expired driver’s license from when I first moved to North Carolina, in 1985.  GOSH, did I really look that young?

          The rest is chock full of magazine clippings and tidbits of important papers.  From a quick peruse, all are still relevant to me now even though they are 30+ years old.  For example:

Lace net darning patterns,

An article about the Eastern Redbud,

Curtain ideas,

- [all useful still]

Quotation: [It still applies.]

“Someone has said that if the stars could be seen only one night each year, everyone would see them.  As it is, many people never look up to see them.  This principle also applies in other areas.” [Torn from a Piedmont Airlines/October 1986 magazine]

Workout regimes – [I can use those!]

21 looks from a blunt cut – [I need to re-visit; have I tried them all?]

Embroidery patterns – [Food for thought]

Recipe – [YES, I remember this one – Sour-cream piecrust – I thought I’d lost it and now it is found!]

A letter from my oldest friend dated 1983, [Seems like she wrote it yesterday, how lovely.]

And, I kept a comic from page 174 of an unknown magazine.  It shows a group of five women chatting in the living room and the men are grouped in another room.

The caption reads:  “And, your mother works, too!  How adorable!”

Yes, I remember this carton; it struck a nerve in me at the time.   It was similar to the remark I received often at cocktail parties early in my career as a plant manager’s wife – “Oh, you work outside the home?”

[I never had a good comeback.]

Maybe that is what is wrong with my housekeeping . . . maybe if I didn’t work outside the home it would look like a double page layout in House Beautiful! And, then again. . . maybe not. I’d more than likely be out in the garden.  I’d rather be there not thinking about cleaning the house, but enjoying the golden fall sun warming my back at the same time the fresh cool breeze is caressing my face.

I think, “Yes, I will prop that 19-minute ‘Ready. . . .set . . . clean’ above my tooth brush.  I WILL START tomorrow right after I brush my teeth.

Maybe now that I’ve hit the milestone birthday – maybe this old dog [err, gal] can learn new tricks.