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I never used to feel spring cleaning urges, but they’ve kind of snuck up on me the past few years. Not that I generally do much about them except get cranky, and maybe clean out a drawer of chuck a few old clothes on the donation pile, which then sits in the corner cluttering up the place for another six months minimum. (I tell myself that this donation layover is strategic: if I haven’t missed the item in six months, then I definitely didn’t need it; if I suddenly need it or want it during that time, though, I’ve still got it. This attempt at self-delusion would probably be more successful if I could put the donation boxes in a garage or attic, rather than leaving it as a big box o’ clutter on the little end table right by the door.)

Part of my problem is my tiny flat. I mean, I love the low utility bills, the efficiency, and the fact that it is the work of a moment to run the vacuum cleaner over my entire floor (or would be, if Nigel would stop shedding and/or I had a vacuum cleaner powerful enough to lift more than one dog hair at a time without then requiring several minutes’ rest to recover from the exertion). What I don’t love is the fact that, in order to declutter any area or rearrange any furniture, a space must first be cleared to put everything you’re organizing, relocating, or chucking out.

I really should just go through the entire place with three big, biodegradable garbage bags: one for donation stuff, one for recycling that has been lingering for a while (e.g., magazines I might want again at some point, but probably won’t), and one for throwing away the truly useless stuff that cannot possibly be rehomed. While I’m at it, I could collect all the stuff I’ve borrowed from people but not yet returned, and centralize it all in one box. (I could also go through the yarn stash and make notes of where I’ve stowed which skeins. When I first started Ravelry, I noticed that feature and thought, “How bizarre — who could ever forget where they’ve put their yarn?” Let’s just say that I have learned better since then.)

If I’m feeling really ambitious, I could even repot the houseplants, and deadhead them. Clean off the bookshelves and reorganize all my books, which have gotten into disarray over the past couple of years. I could even redo the blog template, with something with a wider text column, better layout, and room for widgets.

I probably won’t get to any of that, quite frankly. I’ll probably spend this weekend getting not much of anything done, as usual. The end of May is leaving it rather late for spring cleaning, anyway.

But at least I’m thinking about it. That counts for something, right?

Right?