Clean Day, Green Day

In Arden, we know it is Spring because on our community Facebook page, you see lots of people selling or giving away items. People are cleaning out their houses. Back in Lancaster County, it was the same thing, except that it meant garage sale season. I'm not sure if Delaware, as a whole, does less with yard/garage sales. My only experience is Arden. Here, our roads are too narrow to accommodate much in the way of additional parking and traffic. We have community sales once or twice a year at the Buzz. You rent a space, put up a table and wait. I did this the first year we moved in, but the ordeal wasn't very successful for me. I was surprised that the sale opened late. I am remembering 9 AM. In Reinholds, the usual starting time was 7 AM, but people started showing up at 6 AM. Amish and Mennonite were especially known for their savvy ability to haggle. In Arden, it is sometimes easier to just put a photo of your items online, give your address, and then chat with whichever neighbors come to pick up your stuff. When we first moved in, we got rid of all sorts of items, including our bedroom suit. Later, in a moment we still laugh about, Mark introduced himself to a neighbor around a campfire, who replied, "Yes, I'm Jen. I sleep in your bed."

Saturday was my designated Spring cleaning day. With all our projects and new furniture, we needed to dust everything in sight, and feng shui the rest. Somehow, we ended up dumping a lot of furniture in the room Jonah takes over when he is here. He was coming down to sort through his belongings, so we could get rid of a few bookshelves and cabinets to make room for sofas and chairs that would make the room into a true sitting room when he wasn't in residence. I made a plan to start at the front door and radically clean, going clockwise through the house. After six hours of cleaning I had only finished the kitchen, which is the first room going clockwise from our front door. While I wished I had achieved more, the kitchen was the cleanest it has been since we moved in. That was a good feeling. Jonah and Mark tackled Jonah's room, though that room still has a long way to go.  With my energy waning, I had to stop. Would I be able to sustain any kind of momentum to clean the rest of the house during the week?

The other reason Jonah came down to visit is so we could go see American Idiot,  the rock musical with songs by Green Day. It was playing at City Theater Company. Jonah and I both share a love of Green Day. We used to play it in the car when we had to drive anywhere together. I'll admit that my love of Green Day wasn't due to my own good taste in music. Mark bought me a used iPod on eBay which came preloaded with Green Day songs and the odd addition of Will Smith's Get Jiggy With It. The former had a perfect beat for my angsty jogs through the farmland. I was hooked.  The fact that Jonah and I could bond over the songs, was, in the word of the credit card commercial--priceless.

Adam Wahlberg as St. Jimmy
Photo by Joe del Tufo

I wasn't sure what I was hoping to see with the musical, but it defied any expectation. Jonah and I went with friends Larry and Linda. Mark, unwisely, chose to stay home. The cast was superb.  No individual performances stood out, not because anyone was that brilliant, but because they all were. I barely recognized Adam Wahlberg who played St. Jimmy, the drug dealer. He had had the lead in Arden's version of Shakespeare's As You Like It a few years back. He was also Maren's acting teacher last summer. Emma Orr, another Arden resident, was a member of the ensemble. The players used the entire theater, including the table where we were sitting, to tell the story. The choreography was as energized as the music. We couldn't help smiling and singing along. Our friend, Joe, who had photographed the performers during one of their rehearsals said that, from what he saw, it had the potential to be better than the Broadway version of the musical. I believe it, though I haven't seen the Broadway version. It was a superb performance. That is something that New Castle County and Lancaster County have in common, unbelievable local theater. I'm not sure why anyone would travel to New York City and pay big bucks when the local talent is so worthy of our love and dollars.

I had worried that I might fall asleep at the performance after my day of hard cleaning. No chance. I was wide-eyed until the end. I was happy, too, that Jonah enjoyed himself. I want him to keep visiting us--even if I have to use big bait to get him here. We all went back to Arden, recommitting ourselves to Green Day, elevating them once again on our playlists. I am willing to bet that with those songs blaring through the speakers of our home stereo, I will be able to tackle the rest of my spring cleaning.