A clean sweep. (p.s.).(spring cleaning )(Brief Article)

It's tough to say which is my favorite season. Here in New England, we get our fair share of every type of weather -- steamy summer days, snowy winter nights and, of course, vibrant fall weekends. But more and more I am coming to

love spring. After months of cold weather and dark skies, there's nothing more joyous than hearing the birds singing and watching the tulips and daffodils begin to shoot their green stalks up out of the earth. It's the whole idea of rebirth, of course. The world is coming alive again after lying dormant for three months -- and believe me, after some daunting New England winters, it's time for a change.

I guess that's where the idea of spring cleaning comes from. It's wonderful to start off the new season with a bright, shiny house freed from the stagnant air of winter. But I would venture to say that there's more to it than that.

As a child, I hated it when I'd come home from school on a still nippy spring day to find the house undergoing its seasonal transformation. The windows would be open, bed linens hanging on the clothesline, the kitchen inaccessible until the floors dried. Why did it bother me so much?. Perhaps it was because I knew change was on the horizon. The cozy mess of my bedroom would suddenly be gone, replaced by freshly polished furniture, a neatly-made bed and books tidily arranged. I loved the cleanliness, but I had a difficult time dealing with the change.

Now that I'm an adult, however, I'm, slowly but surely learning the value of change--and of a good spring cleaning. There's something innately ...