Spic & Span

by Pat Antonopoulos

It is in the air and resisting is a waste of the energy needed for the task...fall cleaning. My grandmother, my mother and I carried the ritual from ceiling to floor every year. My grandmother's rug beater had long been abandoned for a commercial grade cleaner but much of the process has stayed the same. It takes longer now and isn't as necessary as when the kids were young. But there is comfort in good work.

This deep cleaning was once a way of finding lost socks, even lost lunches, in most unusual places. Closets gave up the stash of 'ugly' clothes that miraculously disappeared on Sunday mornings. Forgotten toys moved up to the top of the box.

Every season has special joy, but autumn overflows...cooler air, back to school, Halloween and the cleaning ritual. My grandmother would be pleased that I still want the sparkle of Spic & Span.