The Unexpected Benefit To Cleaning.

A rural privilege

To clean or not to clean is an often pondered question. Society demands that we do, never mind the health aspect of it. Honestly, on the whole we err on the side of extreme caution and somehow it is the fault of the constant advertising on TV making it seem as if only a clean home will make a happy family.

Once you invite friends over to your house, it becomes a clash of nurture versus nature. A clean home shouldn't be the yardstick for a friendship but, we still slave for hours beforehand thinking up the various niches of a home that friends might stumble over by chance or on purpose.

Anyway, yesterday saw me do a spot of cleaning in the suburbs of Eisenberg. No, not our house. Standing there raking some leaves and wiping the celestial offerings off the banisters, I saw the neighbour fetching post from the postbox and gave her a cheery greeting.

It didn't take long and we were chatting about the usual things. Nothing of import yet important enough to warrant a break from working. As we were talking a man from down the road came up to talk to us. A part time villager on one of his sporadic visits to his mother.

" Gosh, isn't that the life? Standing about during the day and chatting! "

A slight dig from one used to the anonymity and pace of big city life. And just like that I once again understood how fortunate I am to live a life of rural bliss. We still take the time to make connections. We have moved our pace of life into a lower gear and therefore have the time to actually enjoy it.

Doing any work in the garden or on the exterior of your house is a guaranteed way to mingle with neighbours. Some will check to see if you are doing it right. Others will try and find out if you do a better job than they. And a few will welcome the chance to have a chat and catch up on life, yours and everyone else's...

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