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I decided to borrow a practice from the Chinese and start the new year clean.

Unlike the Chinese, however, I did not clean the whole house. I’d love to have the whole house thoroughly cleaned but I don’t like cleaning and, therefore, I do it in bits unless some looming deadline (soon-to-arrive houseguests, say) motivates me.

Clean kitchen, cluttered mind?

I did, however, clean the kitchen. My daughter would be so proud. My counters suffer from clutter creep. If you’re unfamiliar with the phenomenon, here’s how it works: First, I leave the newspaper on the counter. Then, it’s an empty cereal box, a rubber band, a bottle cap, a coffee cup, a cookbook. I even pick up these items and wipe under them when I do post-meal cleaning, dumb as that is. In a matter of days, sometimes hours, my clear countertop looks like, um, my desk. (Maybe you’ve noticed in some of my photos, although I do try to crop them close enough to limit the exposure of my clutter.)

Anyway, today, all the scraps went into the cabinets or trash or wherever they belonged and I found homes for things that didn’t have them. I even cleaned out the inside of one cabinet. It’s a start. Fortunately, I did not shoot before and after photos, which would be too embarrassing. (I just peeked in there. There’s stuff on the counters again already! I’m not sure whether having lots of counter space is a good thing or a contributor to my issue.)

Good intentions misspent?

I am hoping that the spirits or whoever enforce the Chinese superstitions give me a pass since I’m an Anglo in Kansas, because I made a giant boo-boo and cleaned on New Year’s Day rather than before as is the requirement. I did vacuum, rather than sweep, which may help, since and all the dust and dirt I collected today remains safely within my walls. Although I did take the trash out, I took it out via the back door, so maybe that will reduce the superstition backlash.

In any case, the deed is done, and I feel fairly optimistic that the spirits will forgive me. I’m going to take the clear counter, however brief, as a sign of good things to come.