I remember when we lived in Tokyo, there was a man of East Indian extraction who had a daily spot on one of the television stations we tuned into for the morning news. He would try to corner busy people using public transit hurrying on their way to work in the morning hours. Sometimes people would stop briefly to hear him out and respond, but more generally people simply hurried on their way, evading him. One of the questions he asked in the spring was "Do you like spring cleaning?"

The question had a certain cadence to it, particularly the way he emoted it, and we would often kid ourselves, asking the question of one another in his sing-song as a bit of rhetorical irony. I can't recall what response he got of the people he asked this question. He spoke in English, as a way to intrigue people and aid in the eternal quest of the Japanese public at large to pick up English words and phrases.

So, do I like spring cleaning? Not really. Who does? But it does represent an occasion to deep-clean certain places in a home that are  usually given short shrift. It's a drag, of course, because homes always cry out to be cleaned on a daily basis, of the detritus and dust we acquire living in them, soiling them. It seems we never catch up, are perpetually engaged in cleaning up after ourselves. So spring cleaning is an added burden. On the other hand, there's something about spring that gives us an anticipatory, itchy feeling crying out for us to do something in preparation to adequately welcome it. Why not a tidier, cleaner house? There's a certain satisfaction to be had in applying oneself, however grudgingly, to the task.

And since I began almost a month ago I've managed to clean out and tidy the three bathroom vanities in this house, the large glazed double-tiered breakfast room cabinet, and all of the kitchen drawers and cupboards and some of their contents washed and sparkling, but for one upper bank still awaiting attention. So, that has been accomplished, along with some incidental things like cleaning French doors, the backs of Chinese lacquered screens, that type of thing.

Yet to be done? The window sheers, and the windows themselves as well as their screens. All in due time. There's still ample snow on the ground here, it's still plunging to minus ten Celsius at night, and we're due for another snowstorm tomorrow.