Zen and the art of plant maintenance

I've been cleaning, (although not Friday) for the past two days, as if expecting, (although I'm not thank God) a visit from Queen Clean herself.

I can only rationalize this binge by knowing that I love our house, and I like to live in a peaceful place, free from the black crap that appears mysteriously on the bottom of windowpanes, without crusty unidentifiable food chunks stuck on the inside wall of our fridge, and sans cobwebs connecting the lights hanging above our kitchen island, (quite a feat I must say, we have industrious-college-graduate-with-advanced-engineering-degrees-arachnids).

Really I guess my recent rampage is because things can only annoy me for a limited time before I have to do something about it, including climbing to the top of an 8 foot ladder, armed with only Windex and a squeegee and without a safety net.

Do I have any real concerns about the self-appointed-Queen-of-clean-but-don't-look-in-any-draw, closet-or-cabinet, who has recently rediscovered the lure of partying and is possibly not so concerned with cleanliness coming over? Nope, but I do inadvertently think of her when using a toothbrush to clean our kitchen cabinets.

Someone once told me that they don't have any plants in their house because plants are dirty. Well, of course this is a direct slap in the face, (intended, trust me...) as we have at least 30 indoor plants. I agree, plants can be dirty. They attract dust like nothing else in the house. They constantly need, trimming, watering, dusting, rearranging, fertilizing, etc. (at least when you have 30+ it feels that way...) So when cleaning (usually limited to Fridays...) I always find myself poking at the plants, pulling away dead leaves, cutting off long tendrils and dusting them. Absolutely worth it, if you ask me. They add something to the house, but I can't describe what... or maybe it's how they make me feel... alive, connected to nature, a caregiver.

Some people claim that they can't keep any plants alive, and I've been there too. There was this cornstalk plant that I couldn't get to stay alive for anything. I had to let it go. It was suicidal I guess.

Well, I'm glad we have plants. I love them, some I've had for almost 10 years. I can tell you where every plant came from. I also love when our house is clean. I'm so grateful and very lucky to have the time to care for our house with all the plants. Life is good, very good.