My livingroom floor is made of wood and painted gray. Beams supporting the ceiling and the floor above, windows, doors, stairs connecting its two levels, railings, and furniture are all made of wood and painted gray, as well. But the floor has suffered most abuse over the years. There was much dancing at so many rowdy parties of yesteryear, for instance. It thus needs to be repainted. Or at least wiped clean. Although I vacuum it every two or three months, I have not wiped it for many years. At least five, if my memory can be trusted. At very best, I remove the most disgusting stains with wet paper towels. Which is what I have just done when a few sizable stains surprised me as I was changing compact disks. I have no idea how and when they have sprung up, but they gave me a jolt. At any rate, I have all the tools and chemicals I would need to wipe the floor really clean. And it would take me only a few minutes to get things done. But I know that the livingroom floor is most likely to remain as dirty as it happens to be right now for much longer. Perhaps another five years, I am afraid to speculate. Yes, I would rather write about it than roll up my sleeves and get the job done. And I would never even think of how much time it would take me to write about it. When it comes to writing, I would not tolerate stains of any sort even for a moment.

Addendum (November 6, 2012)

Out of the blue, I went to my pantry and collected a cleaning bucket, a mop, and a bottle of cleaning liquid. I poured some of the liquid into the bucket, went to the bathroom, and filled the bucket with warm water. A moment later I was mopping the livingroom floor. I could not believe what I was doing, but there I was, mopping like crazy. The floor looks quite different already, but it needs getting down on one’s knees and wiping every single board till it sparkles. Well, there are so many indelible shoemarks around that the floor actually needs repainting. Who knows, I may find myself painting like crazy only a week from today. Out of the blue, as ever.