Here are some tips to keep the incoming extra dirt from wet boots and shoes down this coming winter season:

1. Be sure to have mats by the front and back doors.
2. Have slippers by the doors or a pair of 'inside shoes' and a boot rack for wet boots.
3. Have a towel by each door to mop up any wet tracks.


 

Recently, I have taken up yoga casually and have found a way to integrate it into my cleaning. I'm just starting to experiment with this. The main principle is to focus on the physical sensations of my body as I'm cleaning--my muscles, as they move to dust or vacuum, the pressure in my legs as I bend down to clean a tub, etc. 

The key is in the pacing, finding the pace that is slow enough to keep my leisurely attention (but not too slow) and allow me to melt into my bodily movements. It's something like dance. The next time you have to clean, try it. See if it makes the cleaning more relaxing and enjoyable!

Here's an alternative to house cleaning. Several decades ago, an artist named Frances Gabe invented and actually built a functioning self-cleaning house. There are many innovative and intriguing details to its operation but the main plan was that all furnishings were plastic and at the push of a button water would rain down from the ceiling to wash the whole works, then drain out through the floor. Dirty dishes were included in the clean up.

If this isn't for you, hiring a house cleaner is the next best thing!

​​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shcZmbnJM54

I've been reading a an excellent book on the development of world cultures called Germs, Guns, and Steel, and it has a chapter on epidemics. Originally, epidemics spread from cattle and other domesticated animals. That's why Europeans, from lands with livestock, were able to bring such devastating germs to the New World. Today, as we know, epidemics are spread from wild animals in the interface between civilization and the wild. But another important factor in the rise of more infectious diseases in recent decades is the increasing travel between continents. Even aside from the current pandemic, this has made hygiene and sanitizing more important than it had been previously.