Checking ads, reading op-Ed columns, or listening to friends makes me feel that having a variety of devices would free me to live a narcissistic undemanding life. I might just have a strong pointer finger from pushing the start button or a weaker voice from having only to mention needs to Siri. Some of these options mean more to me than others. Cell phones evolved from stationary on a wall to a coiled cord allowing movement to a speaker in a car when away from home. Likewise the convenience of a microwave is enjoyed, though I don’t have an Instant Pot yet. Mind wandering reminded me of the children’s song, “This is the way we wash our clothes, on a Monday morning.”
I’ve lived through a long cycle of clean clothes. I learned early to be very invisible on Monday when my mother washed every thing from sheets to clothes of the week in the bathtub, wrung out by hand, and hung on the clothes line next to the garage. If the weather was bad, my daddy had floored the attic and put a line up there as an option. Special accessories, I guess you’d call them, were stretchers for sheer curtains and drying forms for khaki trousers to prevent wrinkles. My friend’s family didn’t have a car, so they had room for a wringer in their garage. Being able to turn the handle and feed in clothes taught us to always watch our fingers…along with noticing where the curious cat had its tail.
World War II ended, and we got a Bendix machine. Machines have circled back to front loaders after a time for top loaders, yet for this machine that was the only option. We kept it on a small back porch. This is difficult to believe, but children in the neighborhood would sit on the floor and watch the soap filled water slosh around in circles. At times, the cycle was overloaded and soapy water spilled out some way, and we had to sweep it out the back screen door. The clothes line was still the dryer.
When I was in the 6th grade we moved to our last house. A long screen porch was at the side next to the oyster shell drive way. This machine was a Maytag. It lasted and lasted, never needing service beyond what my daddy could perform. It was protected from elements on the porch, but it was still exposed to the temperature of the outside air. If a freeze was expected, the water hose was disconnected and drained and an old quilt draped over it for protection. Again, a dryer was never even considered. Hot air and a breeze were just as effective and cheaper.
Now the choices are overwhelming with a dryer an essential part of the mix. Building new or redoing require considering the choices: side by side, stacked for efficient use of space, and a color to match a decor. One of you readers even has a dry cleaning option I don’t begin to understand. Cleanliness is next to godliness is not Biblical, yet it is a standard we hold for ourselves and others. To be truly clean sometimes extends our plea beyond outward visible dirt.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, Psalm 51: 3
Let Me Tell Ya 