Springing into action

The sunshine is actually warming rather than just bright, the grass is not only visible but green, and you can stand in the wind without your nose hairs freezing. It's officially Spring!

I know, it's already been Spring for several weeks, but there's something about the post-Passover/Easter spring that is even more significantly spring than the equinox. Before Easter it's exciting to see the days lengthen, the snow begin to melt. But after Easter the snow is really truly gone, and the nights are warm enough allow pleasant strolls. It's really truly time to get outside. Dig the soil. Plant some plants. Take the dogs for walks.

It's also time for spring cleaning, which is refreshing in its own way but in my case still feels overwhelming. There is SO MUCH STUFF in our house that to consider sorting through it all, categorizing it (Keep, Freecycle/Donate or Recycle/Toss), and then organizing everything that's left just makes me want to crumble. I'll happily smack some floor rugs but don't make me sort through the piles on the buffet (or the night table or the kitchen island or the bathroom counter or the basement. Especially not the basement)!

Sometimes I wish that instead of spring cleaning it was common to practice a Spring Swap. I imagine large numbers of people deciding to pack up only their dearest possessions, leaving the rest of their stuff where it is and then swapping houses and jobs with each other. Just to give one another a different experience, a new view. It could be through the summer or for an entire year, but after the designated time you could either swap back and return to your house and the stuff you left behind or you could try out another new place, another arrangement.

If we were to actually do it this year, I picture my family and I moving to a Mongolian yurt (ger). 2010 just feels like a yurt year.

Not practical, perhaps (the swap, that is), but I am seriously thinking about a yurt. I'm reading up on them so I'll be ready, just in case.