One day before Seder typically imposes one of my longest task lists. I begin shopping well in advance, but dairy certification for Passover usually doesn't arrive until the last minute. Some items to be prepared for the Seder need defrosting about two days in advance. Carpet shampoo squad comes at the beginning of the week, which requires me to move things off the floors, then replace most of them after their chemical application dries. Food purchases not requiring refrigeration sit in heavy bags in the dining room, to be moved onto our tiled kitchen before the cleaners arrive. They are not returned. Our kitchen becomes a non-food place the day prior to Seder. It's out for breakfast. This could range from a restaurant to a grab and go at WaWa. Lunch, if any, becomes a slice of pizza from a place that offers slices. Dinner is set aside as a special time. A family supper out with kids, wife time as empty nesters. Most a family style chain, either national or regional. I insist on craft beer, though, anticipating some deprivation during Pesach.
In between, tasks get divided between my wife and me. She prepares our kitchen surfaces. Sink, microwave, stove, self-cleaning oven, fleishig food preparation island, kitchen table. I do the more physically demanding projects. Cleaning the refrigerator, moving hametz appliances to the basement, and bringing boxes of stored Pesach needs upstairs to the kitchen.
My stamina has taken an age-related, or maybe health-related, toll. I can make two round trips between basement and kitchen before resting. That's a lot of trips. Of the appliances that go downstairs, only the stand mixer has substantial weight. Not so for things coming upstairs. Some boxes laden with cookware and dishes challenge me with both weight and bulk. In recent years, I do one of these, then for the second trip, tote two lighter boxes from basement to dining room. The refrigerator is a project unto itself. It only gets throughly cleaned annually, in anticipation of Pesach. Contents removed. Unsalvageable food discarded. Shelves and bins cleaned. Interior scrubbed.
This year, with Seder taking place at mid-week and OLLI on spring break, starting early became more realistic. Food purged one shelf at a time over a few days the week before. Vegetable and fruit bins scrubbed. That leaves me with mostly usable food, a simple to clean cheese bin, the shelves and the interior. At one time I did the interior with a sponge. Now I use a sponge floor cleaner with handle, saving the sponge for the corners. Shelves often need soaking, having intermittent spots of dried stuff, once sticky, now solid.
For the dishes, as soon as the carpets dried, I went to work. I did not count how many round trips I made. Only two unusually heavy boxes challenged my physical capacity. So at midmorning, I find myself well ahead of progress for previous years. I started the kitchen table, a necessity as the refrigerator contents need to rest there while I remove the shelves, wash each individually, allow them to dry. Then scrub the interior. Then replace shelves. Finally, replace food, creating zones for Pesach and Hametz. If I get this all completed before heading out for supper, it's been a successful effort. Ahead of schedule. Just the refrigerator to clean and food to sort. Even though not yet complete, already I feel accomplished.
After darkness emerges, we have our formal Search for Hametz, arranged by my wife. Then chill, with no loose ends, ready for the Seder preparation. As a Bachor, or First-Born, I need to attend a Siyum to avoid a fast day. Then washing dishes and preparing the Seder meal. It's a second consecutive long day, one that does not conclude until very late at night when I return my guest to her home and drive back. A second consecutive day of effort generated accomplishment.
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