Cleaning is good, but don't overdo it

Springtime is the traditional season for cleaning, but it feels good whenever you do it.

There's even a piece of software called Spring Cleaning, designed to cleanse your hard drive of unneeded junk and make your computer run quicker. But that's another story.

And don't overdo it. I wiped out the hard drive of an old computer assigned to my teenage son's room, and it took a month to get it up and running again.

Still, when I attacked the garage and shed, as well as my workshop, I had no idea how much satisfaction I would receive.

It started out by finishing a painting project that began last spring with the help of a dozen friends, but that's another story as well.

With the painting project out of the way, I was able to clear out the paint cans that had been congregating in the far corner.

That, in addition to rolling out my wife's camper, and giving away a car topper that we used only every couple of years, cleared the carport out enough that my wife could attack it with a broom.

With her advice, I installed hangers to allow bicycles, golf clubs and lawn chairs to be stored out of the way enough to leave room to park the van inside and still open its doors.

A similar assault on the shed resulted in a lumber rack for valuable wooden leftovers that formerly had a home in the garage, and my workshop ended up with at least enough room to walk and find my current projects.

There were a lot of trips to the dumpster along the way, but I haven't missed anything important, yet.

But cleaning time always results in a struggle -- do I throw this away, or do I keep it?

Some of us fall off the fence on the "keep it" side. You can tell us by the stacks of old magazines and piles of broken furniture in our basement storage room.

Others throw out mail before it has been opened.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere.

There are some folks in Gothenburg who are glad their ancestors weren't clean freaks.

When the top-rated PBS program "Antiques Roadshow" visited Omaha, the top item was a collection of 30 to 50 letters between Frank Lloyd Wright and Harvey Sutton, who was building a home in McCook, as well as plans for the house, which is now the beautifully restored home of Van and Jan Korell at 602 Norris Ave.

Now owned by Sutton descendants living in Gothenburg, the documents were valued at $75,000 to $125,000.

It's enough to make you afraid to clean out the garage.

There was another Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home planned for McCook, but never built.

If you'd like to see the letters and plans, they're on display at the Museum of the High Plains Historical Society at 413 Norris Ave.