WASHING DISHES

There was a day that I thoroughly disliked that task. But these days, it is an enjoyable process almost always. Who could disdain standing before the window watching rabbits scamper and birds feed in the summertime? Or not take pleasure in seeing woodsheds that are full and brimming over as a backdrop to thickly falling snow?

Life speeds by through the kitchen window of the Barn. It would be a shame to spoil this process with an automatic dishwasher; besides I am the automatic dishwasher.

Another chore I used to dread was laundry. No more. I may continue to wonder how long I'll be (reasonably) stable walking the outdoor stairways down to the lower floor where the washer and dryer live; or what stored item or tool might reach out to grab me as I enter; and I will definitely keep my eyes open for snakes visiting close by the outdoor stoop as I go to and fro, as I've met them along that path before. But as long as I can complete the process of sort/wash/dry/fold/hang/put-away before noon, I remain a very happy Teelside camper.

Washing...it all began with a wringer washer and no automatic dryer. How well I remember those frigid winter winds of Pennsylvania that froze diapers and work uniforms stiff as boards. But who among us doesn't love folding baby clothes? Dealing with work clothes...not so much.

Of course, the common perpetrator in the demise of housekeeping pleasure is increasing task loads that automatically grow with a growing family. O.K., O.K. There is that likely degree of procrastination in the mix. Dishes and laundry can stack up pretty quickly. My mother had it right - take care of it as you go along. Or enter FlyLady.com. Not that I am faithful to FlyLady - but I do check in with her lanch pad every so often just for entertainment. And that entertainment has generated a few good habits - like a clean sink at bedtime (most of the time), for instance.

Rambing done. On now to making a bit of bread pudding with bread that procrastinated until it became stale. And then to cleanup of the mess I'll make, remembering that Grandma Oe would say one needs "to rid up the dishes."