I cleaned out my fireplace today, confident that we’ve seen the last of cold weather for this year. My daughter-in-law Julie hates cold weather; I love it and grieve that winter in New Orleans lasts about a week or two. But, each year, by the last of February, Spring arrives and the weather warms. The birds woke me up outside my bedroom window this morning. The high today is about 68, a perfect temperature.

After some early morning errands, I determined that I would do the least pleasant job at my house today: clean the patio furniture. Here’s the story on that.

When we moved into this house 14 years ago, we bought metal furniture for the back patio–it’s covered but not enclosed–with cushioned seats and backs. When we lived in North Carolina and Mississippi, we loved our back porch and enjoyed late-night sessions out there. However, we discovered something about New Orleans that makes porch-sitting difficult. The air is dirty.

A week after washing the furniture, I’ll be able to run a wet cloth across the arms and backs of the furniture and remove a layer of fine dust. Go all season long without washing the patio furniture and you will not want to come anywhere near my back porch. Today, the water was filthy and the washrags were practically ruined, they’re so black.

Someone come visit us quickly, while the back porch is still clean.

In the last week, two recent visitors to New Orleans have written letters to the editor of the Times-Picayune saying how much they loved their recent excursions here and that they are trying to rearrange their lives to move here. The Chamber of Commerce loves that sort of thing.

I would assume those visitors got caught up in the parades and music, as well as the meals in the fine restaurants. What I wonder though is whether we should tell them about the dirty air, the noise, the round-the-clock congestion on the interstates, and the crime. New Orleans has incredible architecture and some unique neighborhoods, but it also has weird politics and the hottest summers on the planet. We have wonderful people and some incredible churches, but we also have potholed streets and some neighborhoods where you wouldn’t want to walk at night.

Up in Baton Rouge, our legislators continue in their special session turning bills into laws intended to drive a stake through the heart of Louisiana’s reputation for shady politics. Tiring of the debate over restricting a lobbyist to $50 for a meal for a legislator, a Senate committee decided to cut out meals altogether. No more wining and dining our lawmakers. Cup of coffee and that’s it. We’ll see how it fares when the full Senate gets a look at it.

Someone wrote the editor this week to point out that legislators don’t need to have meals bought for them, because they get a fancy per diem meant to cover all hotels, meals, and mileage. Good point.

With all the promotion from the governor’s office for our lawmakers to ban free tickets to concerts and games, it turns out that Governor Jindal received free tickets to the recent Hannah Montana concert in New Orleans. He and some aides took their daughters.

Promoting a high standard of ethics has this built-in snag to it: people expect you to live by it, too.

A pastor I know preached a scorching sermon about people not frequenting stores and restaurants on Sunday. “If Christians would stay home, the employees wouldn’t have to work either and could enjoy a day of rest and church with their families.” He made a compelling case. But then….

A few minutes after he got home, some out-of-town relatives arrived. His wife announced he would have to go to the store for some items she needed to prepare lunch. Inside the grocery, he bumped into church members who had just heard his sermon. He stood in the pulpit the next Sunday and told what had happened, then asked them to forgive him for not thinking through the message he had preached. It was a lesson in humility he never forgot.

Some of the other bills the House and Senate are laboring over deal with whether elected officials can enter into business with the State of Louisiana, whether people who have donated money to an official’s campaign can then be appointed by him to state jobs, and whether to outlaw cash contributions to candidates for office.

Governor Jindal has urged lawmakers to establish ours as “the gold standard of ethics.” Senator Ben Nevers of Bogalusa–who proposed the bill prohibiting lobbyists from purchasing meals for our officials–is proud of the progressive steps our leaders are taking in Baton Rouge. “This is not 18 carat stuff,” he said. “This is pure gold.”

The House approved by a vote of 102-1 a bill which will require all levels of state officials to disclose financial information, some more than others. Officials who represent fewer than 5,000 citizens will be required to give the least disclosures, only income from government and gaming interests. Those expected to give the most information would be statewide elected and appointed leaders. In the middle are judges, lawmakers, and most local officials.

John Grisham’s latest bestseller, “The Appeal,” takes place in the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, area and concerns cancer-causing pollution from a chemical plant which is killing off the populace. As I read it, I wondered if that stuff is still going on, if there are communities still afflicted with irresponsible companies and bribed officials and ruined land and grieving families.

An hour later, a local newscast told of a stream west of here a few miles that is being cleaned up. Runoff from Shell’s refinery polluted it years ago and it’s only now receiving the attention it needs. Soon, we are told, it will be turning fresh clean water into Lake Pontchartrain.

So many areas are overdue for Spring cleaning.