From start to finish, it takes about half an hour. Once it’s done, it looks great until the first handwashing. Then there are water spots on the mirror and a little dribble of soap down the newly wiped dispenser. The hand towel is wrinkled and no longer hanging straight.

When anyone in the house is sick, there’s extra disinfecting and cleaning. The toothbrushes have to be sterilized in the dish washer, and the towels changed out frequently. Maintaining a clean bathroom is a thankless and necessary job offering little satisfaction when it’s done. I slog my way through it with little joy or gratitude. When the job is done, the best I can say is that no one will catch a dread disease by using it – and the towels on the bars are all clean and ready for use.

Perhaps there will be a day when I appreciate cleaning the bathroom. That day was not yesterday, when I cleaned it, nor will it be when I clean it next. The best I can say now is that I enjoy it in a secondary sense: it’s wonderful to sink into a clean tub full of hot water after a cold January day. Enlightenment in all tasks and thoughts eludes me still. Maybe some day…