'Spring' cleaning

For the past 20 years or so, we haven't joined the mad rush during Holy Week when people drive or fly out of Metro Manila like lemmings jumping off a cliff.

- 

What's the point of going to Baguio for a change when you'll encounter the same gang of folks from the city anyway? The airports are so crowded that you'll need the rest of your vacation to destress from that experience.

Instead, I decided to do “spring” cleaning, except that it’s in the sweltering heat of summer in the tropics. We all accumulate junk every day. We set aside stuff that we think we'll get to use some other time, so things pile up and before you know it, you have to tiptoe around piles of things that we never get around to use.

It’s best to dispose of unnecessary clutter. As Marie Kondo said, “If it doesn’t bring you joy, dispose of it,” or something to that effect. In our case, our house staff is a real pack rat. We throw everything from old newspapers, egg cartons, boxes, leftover paint and so much more that I discovered yesterday in our bodega.

It doesn’t help that I also have plenty of materials I use for my gardening, including coconut husks, cubes and dust, charcoal, as well as pots of various sizes, shade netting, plastic covers and other materials, which my assistant gardener (me the chief gardener), tossed in as well.