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
Cameras give law enforcement a leg up
Main, News, Russellville, ...
Kevin Taylor For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE – olice Chief Chris Hargett was at a conference in 2020 and while passing by some of the vendors there, he noticed one promoting a camera...
Defense project has public, vets ‘excited’
Main, News, Z - News Main
By Brady Petree and Addi Broadfoot 
March 25, 2026
BARTON— The queue of people clamoring to get into the Hadrian facility on Friday was lined down the sidewalk as members of the public and military vet...
Flanagan enjoys romance book cover modeling
Main, News, Phil Campbell, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
March 25, 2026
PHIL CAMPBELL — What started as a few comedy videos on TikTok has grown into a career that has taken Andrew Flanagan from a welding job to romance nov...
Still waiting for rural ambulance answers
Columnists, Opinion
March 25, 2026
Rural Alabama has been waiting decades for access to affordable health services — and despite the empty promises of a bill funneling millions of dolla...
GFWC focuses on Alzheimer’s
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
March 25, 2026
The GFWC Book Lovers Study Club focused on Alzheimer’s awareness during its March meeting at Russellville First Baptist Church. Alzheimer’s disease gr...
Pitching is key focus for Patriots
College Sports, Sports
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
The 2024-25 collegiate baseball season was a solid one for the Northwest Shoals Community College Patriots and head coach David Langston knows what it...
Patriots build on strengths for fourth season
College Sports, Sports
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
The softball program at Northwest-Shoals Community College continues to grow as it enters its fourth season since being relaunched. Head coach Angel B...
RHS boys soccer aiming for state run
B: Spring Sports, High School Sports, Russellville Golden Tigers, ...
By Addi Broadfoot For the FCT 
March 25, 2026
RUSSELLVILLE — The boys soccer team is off to a strong start this season and is aiming for a deep playoff run. Coach Larsen Plyler said the team has t...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.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