so fresh and so clean

there has been a lot of discussion (mostly among talking heads) lately about how one reacts to a tragic event. some do cartwheels in the police station in italy, some party til they have to be carried home, some eat, some sleep, etc.

my reaction is to do two things: 1.) completely shut down. i don't want to sleep, eat, go to work, shower, nothing. 2.) react to my shutting down by being so mad that i've done nothing that i go on a cleaning binge.

not that anything tragic has happened, but the husband and i are feeling a bit stressed at the moment, and all i want to do is go home from work and clean. in particular, i'd like to do laundry. i think maybe it is the monotony of folding clothes, and organizing dresser drawers and closets that somehow puts me at ease. i'd like to mindlessly iron, hang clothes in the closet according to color & type, make sense of the dressers and organize the laundry area itself.

then i'll probably find myself on a purge, and will start throwing things in bags left and right that should be taken to consignment or goodwill, and the pattern continues until every room in the house is cleaned, organized, rearranged, cursed at, cried in, talked to, re-visioned and otherwise lived-in.

and here, by the way, is where i'd love to do laundry. of course, i'd probably have a perfectly tailored skirt on that sink in a fabulous fabric. and some wire baskets, shelving, a folding board, glass canisters and a beagle that's waiting to carry off just one sock so i can't make a pair.
















(photo: bhg)