Seeing Clearly

Washing windows have never been a favorite task of mine, but the end results are always so spectacular! My windows have been calling to me all summer long to be cleaned. It has been something up until yesterday, I wanted to do, but yet...could not take action on. It seemed too big, too hard, too difficult to do all by myself. I didn't like the view, but yet...I could not make myself do anything about it. I am thinking now, it was a timing thing. I wasn't suppose to have them clean until yesterday.

My mother is the QUEEN of CLEAN WINDOWS! It is her brand of "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval". She measures just how clean one's windows are in terms of what kind of housekeeper she might be. Over the years, I have heard her say, "those windows were filthy, just what does she do all day?" Yes, times have changed and it seems that cleaning windows has taken a back seat to a full time job, rearing children and getting them to and from activities, or even sitting and reading a good book, etc. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in one's day to do it all, including windows. I have always prided my mom and myself on our housekeeping abilities. Neither one of us are perfectionists, but we are damn good. We can put up with little messes just not big ones.

Bruce and I made a good team. He didn't like messes either. He picked up after himself, put away his clothes, and helped keep the living areas neat, but...he didn't like to clean windows. Window cleaning was not on his list of favorites. Therefore, I usually found myself spending one entire day in the spring doing this dreaded task all by myself, while he would be at the office schmoozing with customers. Sometimes, I would have to leave a window for him to help me pop back in. It was always a day that found me heaving, sighing, half frustrated and sweating. Yet, the end results were clear. I would spend minutes every day going from room to room looking out of the clean windows. In the past couple of years,I got a bit smarter and suggested that we do it together on a weekend, pleading it was just too hard to do by myself. Bruce reluctantly ...helped, being my right hand, me doing the real swiping and cleaning, he doing the go-for jobs, inserting and taking out. I miss him, even his reluctant ways.

I have some fun memories of window cleaning. My good friend from Missouri Valley, IA and I would make a week long project out of Spring cleaning. We would jointly clean both of our homes, top to bottom, each room, including windows. In our old two-story Victorian home, the first Spring we lived there, we broke at least three window panes trying to get them up to clean. I was amazed at Christy's thoroughness. I learned a lot from her. Her little sponges, paring knife and screwdriver that she used to clean the grooves of the storm windows, are now part of my cleaning tools. I could not believe how clean she could get all of those corners. It was team tag work for sure and so much fun to do with a friend. Again, after that week...I felt like a Princess in a very clean castle. Moving from room to room admiring our hard work, it would feel so good!

Since I am day-caring now on Tuesdays and Thursdays for my little granddaughter, I had decided I was going to work on windows while she was there this week. To get a head start, before she got there, I began on the big sliding door out to the deck. Finishing up that window, I preceded to the kitchen window. My plan is to clean all of the "public viewing windows first"...hoping I can get this done in this week. Little Avery arrived and my window washing stopped for the rest of the day! As I held her, fed her, played with her...I found myself admiring my sparkling view on the world. It felt good.

I couldn't help think of this task and how I felt as metaphors for my current life situation. Hard as some days are, making myself swipe at those cloudy streaks helps me see and appreciate all that I have. I have a brand new little baby girl who smiles back at me, a comfortable home that surrounds me with love and memories, friends who have been there through the years to teach me the ropes and a mom that has set standards of excellence. Life is good today. I can see my tomorrow a little more clearly. Enjoy! Deb