Friday, April 25, 2014

I used to be a clean freak

In my younger years, I was a fervid cleaner, setting aside Saturdays to clean my house from top to bottom.   Cleaning is not longer a huge priority.  I'm big on controlling clutter.  Not so big on dusting, vacuuming, etc.

A major reason for this change?  Arizona dust.

Arizona dust is fine, light, and ubiquitous.  I lived in Iowa and Illinois prior to moving to Arizona.  In those states, you bought hutches to store china or knickknacks so they wouldn't get dusty.

In Arizona, the dust gets inside the hutches, the cupboards, the closets, the medicine cabinets.  Everywhere.

I have a two story house.  I can dust the downstairs, go upstairs and dust, come downstairs and already see the beginnings of a new layer of dust.

If you dust and no one sees, you can't prove you dusted.

Well okay, you can tell by the depth of the dust whether it has been a long while between dustings.

But the thin layer of dust that was a sign of poor housekeeping in Iowa doesn't count here.

During monsoon season, the dust comes in huge, moving waves that obscure the sun and blind motorists. But Arizona dust is always around.  I sometimes wonder if the inside of my lungs looks like the top of my refrigerator.

It's no wonder everyone I know suffers from allergies.

Why don't I leave?  Well, every state has issues.  Iowa and Illinois had humidity, mud, and mosquitoes.  Arizona weather and a job I like outweigh the hassles of the dust.

Besides, if I ignore it, it isn't there.  Right?

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