Airing

Making up the bed has always been the first thing I do in the morning. "There, that's done," and I can proceed on to laundry, bird feeders, dog cookies, refilling cat food bowls. a handful of pellets for the goldfish, picking mint and brewing tea, coffee, Internet news, and breakfast, more or less in that order. 

 One day a week  I generally change the sheets and on that day, if the weather cooperates, I air the pillows, something I remember my grandmother doing. They smell of sunshine when I lie down that night.

Now  The Wartime Housewife  suggests that it might be a good idea to air the bed every day. Having seen pictures of the various dust mite and other microscopic critters that can lurk in bedding, I'm thinking, why not? I remember traveling in Europe and seeing duvets hanging out windows in the mornings. 

So I'm breaking the habit of a lifetime and leaving the bed to air. But, silly though it may seem, I still go make it back up in the afternoon. Of course, one could be like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who, I've read, insisted on having fresh sheets twice a day -- after a night's sleep and after her afternoon nap.  

The rich are different . . .