Stories · Curiosities · Questionable Ideas · Rather a Lot of Imagination · Farah Sam · Author & Creator ·
Washing Carpets and Shaking Out the Year
Cleaning day on Avenue de Havilland becomes a fun, active family project. As Mum vacuums the dust away and the teenagers read books under cozy blankets on the porch, Ariadne treats the housework like a marvelous game.
THE STAR FAMILY BLOG
Farah Sam
12/27/20212 min read
Diary Entry: Sunday Zen level: High (restored by clean wool and fresh air) Chapters written: 1/2 page (written on the back of a vacuum manual) Current status: Watching clean woolen carpets dry in the crisp winter breeze
There is a satisfying, old-fashioned rhythm to thoroughly cleaning a house after renovations are completed. Today, with the major plastering and tiling officially behind us, we tackled our heavy woolen carpets. They had gathered the plaster dust of the past month, and after Ariadne’s high-energy flour and jam play sessions, they needed a deep, restorative scrub.
Farhaan and I carried the heavy, colorful woven carpets out to the back porch to beat them clean, while Yasmeen looked up eco-friendly wool-cleaning tips on her phone. Once the heavy lifting was done, the teenagers took a well-deserved break, wrapping themselves in thick blankets on the porch swing, happily reading their new high school books in the crisp winter air.
Inside, I was busy vacuuming the living room floor, wearing my usual pony, jeans, and belted sweater. Ariadne thought the vacuum cleaner was the most marvelous toy ever invented. She is an incredibly active child, and she spent the morning chattering happily, giggling, and chasing the wheels of the vacuum cleaner across the room, trying to catch them as they spun.
Suddenly, her playful chattering turned into a sharp, hungry wail. Knowing her cues, I pointed her to her low independent snack corner in the living room alcove, where a fresh croissant and a cup of water were waiting. She reached out, grabbed the croissant by herself, and her cries ceased instantly as she held it tight, calmed by the food and the rhythm of her play.
Closing: In the evening, with the clean, fresh-smelling carpets returned to the warm floorboards, the house felt completely cleansed. I sat on my mat in the center of the living room, taking a deep, physical exhale. I stretched my arms overhead, reached forward into a deep seated forward fold, and let my back open completely. I closed my eyes, focused on the steady rise and fall of my breath, and let my mind settle into the clean, quiet night.