Spring cleaning demands day in sun
Alison James, Columnists, COLUMNS--FEATURE SPOT, Opinion
 By  Alison James Published 
7:31 am Friday, April 22, 2022

Spring cleaning demands day in sun

The temperatures have warmed, the flowers are blooming, the pollen is beginning to settle thickly on every surface in sight, and that can mean only one thing.

Well actually, I suppose it could be a lot of things, but I have a particular topic in mind: spring cleaning. Am I the only one whose shoulders drooped a little just thinking about it?

Like many of you, I’ve been trying plan some time to buckle down to a little spring cleaning around my home, scrubbing appliances, vacuuming up cobwebs, bringing a breath of fresh air to my home life.

It’s certainly needed, and yet it’s easy to put off. Still, I know everything will feel fresher, brighter and cleaner when I make it happen – I just need to get “a round tuit,” as the joke goes. I hope supply chain issues haven’t affected their availability, though I’m sure inflation has caused their price to soar.

If I ever get around to it for the inside of my home, I hope I can also make a plan for the outside. As the earth turns green, with trees budding and weeds flourishing throughout our landscaping – or is that just at my house? – we need to remember the importance of a little TLC for our outdoor surroundings.

Did you know April is Keep America Beautiful month?

First established in 1953, Keep America Beautiful “inspires and educates people to take action every day to improve and beautify their community environment,” according to the KAB website. “We envision a country in which every community is a clean, green, and beautiful place to live.”

Of course, we can’t change the whole country, but we can change our little corner of it, can’t we? We can encourage and embrace our personal responsibility to improve and beautify Franklin County, making sure it is a clean, green and beautiful place to live.

It takes each one of us doing our part to reduce waste, prevent litter and make better choices to keep our planet – or at least our portion of the planet – healthy.

The fact is, we all know of a spot that needs a little extra attention, whether it’s our own front yards, a roadside ditch that is crippled by litter or a neighborhood area that is overgrown and under-loved.

Our homes need our attention to be clean and welcoming, and our outdoor environment needs the same thing.

So although I admit I’m groaning about it inside, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and get after it.

Anyone have a round tuit I could borrow?

Also on Franklin County Times
Educators update states of their schools
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Local educators and community members gathered Thursday at Tharptown High School for the seventh annual State of the Schools program. T...
Dowdy guilty in dog mauling deaths
Main, News, Russellville, ...
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — A Franklin County jury found Brandy Dowdy guilty of one count of manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide after more...
Youth sports policy aims at bad conduct
Main, News, Red Bay, ...
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
RED BAY — Over the course of his 14 years coaching youth league sports, Torrey Lewey has noticed a plethora of changes, one of which includes a tenden...
West sings national anthem for Special Olympics
News, Russellville, Russellville Golden Tigers
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville High School senior Elijah West sang the national anthem at this year’s Special Olympics, marking his second time to perfor...
Garden club learns about poppy symbolism
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
November 19, 2025
We began our November Cultura Garden Club meeting with a hands-on rock-painting activity led by muralist Ree Shannon of aRo Art & Design Concepts. Ree...
Electricity prices are soaring, and coal is a key solution
Columnists, Opinion
November 19, 2025
Electricity bills are climbing almost everywhere, and the reasons have little to do with ideology. Three forces are driving prices higher: massive new...
PCHS opens with 3 wins
High School Sports, Phil Campbell Bobcats, Sports
Bart Moss For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
The Phil Campbell Bobcats reeled of three straight basketball wins to open the season, beating Tharptown, Winston County and Cherokee. The Bobcats ope...
Young Lady Tigers still in building stage
High School Sports, Red Bay Tigers, Sports
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
While most coaches have their hands full managing one team, John Torisky once again returns to coach the Lady Tigers as well — giving him twice the am...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *