Spring Cleaning

Home improvement, keys, Holy Week music, and a PSA re: colorectal health

I am very grateful to those of you who emailed or messaged me after my last post. It's nice knowing I'm not alone in considering "stuff." I appreciate each and every one of you so much. Thank you for reading and reaching out.

I’m not including an audio version of the blog this time, because I’m saving my voice for Holy Week.

It's been a busy several weeks, with an expanded home improvement agenda growing to include the front yard and lots of deferred work in the house. Our contractor and his crews do every kind of work: landscape, hardscape, interior, painting, electrical, plumbing, etc. You name it, they do it, although the contractor is best known in our community for the fantastic landscapes he creates.

Earlier this year, one of his team crafted new decorative wrought iron panels for our front block wall. They are unique and gorgeous. During the installation process, the heavy lantana hedge fell over and needed to be removed. Our contractor came over to discuss what we might do. We discussed adding lavender bushes along the fence line. We have lots of lavender in the front of our house, and it invites pollinators of all sorts. When I open the door, I’m greeted by its intoxicating scent. More of this seemed like a good idea.

The contractor noted that the yard had sunk and suggested an inexpensive fix: more soil. He also noted that he wanted to reduce the grass area to create more shape, and maybe we should consider some lighting to illuminate the landscape. We've known him since college and love his work, so we said, “Yes. Do what you think is best.”

A few days later, in the wee o’clock, a crew “demoed” the yard, removing and stacking the flagstones, tearing out the grass, and trenching for new irrigation. The roses were left. The next day it rained and the yard was a big muddy mess. When the sun returned, the crew worked magic, creating a magical space with curved pathways lined with azalea, lavender, and boxwood; a small grass space for the old dog; and a beautiful sitting area formed of the old flagstones. The extra flagstones were placed to create a pathway in the raised area of our backyard. Lights were added, a fresh mulch laid, and the stucco on the fence was given a fresh coat of paint.

Over the years we’ve amassed an extensive collection of ceramic animals that “live” in the front yard. One of my favorites is a squirrel, which is incredibly lifelike. After the yard was completed, I enjoyed placing each of them in a new location. I placed the squirrel at the base of our tree, where he peers up through green lacy leaves, eyes alert and tail cocked.

I am amazed by the transformation. I am now on the hunt for the perfect outdoor rocker, so that I can sit and gently rock in the shady paradise and watch all the happenings on my little street, which is only a single block long but feels bigger than that, maybe because so much of my world is here.

In the last few weeks, I managed to work through much of the house, going through drawers, cabinets, and closest, finding items that I no longer needed or wanted, including dozens of books. St. Paul’s hosts a Little Free Library across from the county hospital, and it gets a lot of traffic. Every few days, I hoist a bag of books on my shoulder and walk over to add my offerings to the shelf.

I've shined, polished, and dusted nearly every surface, reveling in the freshly painted walls and our new wall of bookcases. I've taken items out of all the kitchen cabinets and washed and scrubbed everything. I'm relishing less clutter and realizing that with fewer things, it's easier to appreciate the beauty of each individual object. The new couch arrives Tuesday, and I already envision myself sitting in the sun-washed room, reading a book, surrounded by so many things I love.

Are any of these keys yours?

One puzzle I haven’t solved? The keys. I know some of them are for houses that have passed out of our family. Some are keys that neighbors, long gone, pressed upon us decades ago. Some are for locks that have been broken or lost. Right now, I’m just keeping them on pegs in the laundry room, a mystery to be solved another day. I’m sure there’s a lesson in all of this.

We've got another round of painting and repairs scheduled at the end of Holy Week, including fence repairs to correct some sags and a broken gate and reworking the redwood shelves we use to house plants in our side yard.

Bill and Natalie got tickets to several NCAA women's games in Portland over Easter weekend. I'm a little jealous, but Holy Week is busy for church singers, and there is nowhere else I could be except with my choir.

The choir has been working hard, and our Easter repertoire is incredible. In addition to oodles of hymns, we're singing Elaine Hagenberg's "Alleluia"; "This is the Day," a gospel piece by Arvis Strickling Jones; and "The Hallelujah Chorus" (Handel). I'm particularly excited to sing "¡Aleluya! Cristo Resucitó", one of our choir's favorites. We last sang it in 2019. We missed a couple of Easters due to the pandemic, and I always feel that we can't sing enough on Easter Day (and always) as a result. I love the use of the shaker, the drum, but mostly the lyrics:

“Rise, Magadalena from your weeping; '

Christ stands before your very eyes.

Quickly return to the disciples;

Bear the good news: “He is alive.”

Wishing you a wonderful week full of miracles and joy.

PSA: March is colorectal health awareness month. If you are due, overdue, or have any health concerns related to this, please get a colonoscopy. I was due for a colonoscopy during the pandemic, but delayed it because of COVID concerns. I recently had several polyps removed, including a couple of precancerous ones. I’m so glad I went.