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Show f Battle Creek 74-. Folks who took a gander at the calendar last Monday noted three short words in fine print under the figure "21." Upon closer scrutiny scru-tiny they observed that these words proclaimed the welcome news that "Spring begins today." Well that's nice to know, since the thermometer stood at 20 degrees at 7 a.m.; and a bone-chilling wind was blowing at near gale intensity on the morning of the 21st. Calendar or no calendar, there's one harbinger of Spring that never fails, and that's for sure. What I mean is the hard gleam that shines in a woman's eyes, when house-cleaning house-cleaning time rolls around. What there is about these annual an-nual "tear up and drag outs," that completely changes the personality personal-ity of the little woman is hard to say, but men and brethren, such is verily the case. Why should the Ides of March, or any reasonable facsimile of the same, transform an even-tempered, loving, peaceful homemaker into a hard-fisted, dictatorial, dic-tatorial, mop-swinging tyrant? In older days there might have been some good and ample reason for these vernal campaigns against grease and grime. At least folks usually got an assist from mother nature. When the old rag carpet was given the heave-ho, and the dirt and straw underneath revealed reveal-ed to view; it was really convenient conven-ient to open the front and back doors, and lot he stout March winds carry the dust and chaff to parts unloiown. However, in these days of wall-to-wall floor coverings and the vacuum sweeper, there is little justification for getting all steamed steam-ed up inside the bailiwick, especially espec-ially when the climate outside is such as to make an Eskimo iceman ice-man yell "Uncle." Oh well, there are some things like rheumatism, that just can't be cured, and must be lived with; and house-cleaning is one of them. In this regard, I think that Ole the Ouzel has it on the rest of us long-suffering husbands. Each Spring his Mrs. does not say, "Come on Ole, get the step-ladder; it's nest-cleaning time." No indeed, in-deed, she just looks about for a likely place and proceeds single-handed single-handed to build a new one. So long 'til Friday. |