What We Need Is Here

I think I LOVE this

Aaak. I have become the grown-up of my teenage nightmares; I am excited about an appliance. 

Our old top-loading washing machine gave up the ghost last week and we decided to invest in a front-loader - based on our resolve to replace old appliances with energy star rated ones as the old ones die.  This one had been terminal for a while and required one of us to reach in and give the tub an initial whirl before it would start the spin cycle. When it leaked oil all over our clothes, we got the word form the repairman that we had no choice but to let her go.

So we now have a handsome front loader wedged next to my grandmother's 40-year old Lady Kenmore dryer (which the repairman says may never die - a testament to both old-fashioned quality and to two generations of hanging clothes on the line instead). This is by no means the most radical solution to clothes-washing energy-saving; a lot of folks are exploring much more frugal methods - No Impact Man Colin Beaven, for example, who washes clothes in the bath tub, and Cindy from Waste Wear Daily who diverts used washer water to her garden - but it's surprisingly good. While we got the new one based on energy and water savings (it uses 20 gallons per full load as opposed to 50 gallons), I was thrilled (see how far gone I am?) at how thoroughly it spun out the water from the laundry.  Clothes dry at least twice as fast on the clothesline, and I imagine it wouldn't take nearly as long in the dryer either.  With our humid summer weather fast approaching, and our hoped-for move to the Catholic Worker House, I am interested to see how many loads we can get on the clothesline each day.

Be still my heart.

Soft Days

It was a rainy weekend - what the Irish call soft days.  We have had such a long period of drought in this area that I welcome it, as do most gardeners in April.  But I think I would welcome it anyway.  During warm periods, rain is a relief, like a fever breaking.  And the pup makes me walk in it, which I don't mind at all really. I used to like to play in the rain. Being forced out into it give me that same giddy feeling.

   

I have noticed when visiting places where it rains a lot that people seem to be a lot more cavalier about getting wet. Seattle, for instance - folks keep walking and biking; they just wear rain gear.  Here, we're running around a lot with newspapers over our heads. And I find myself making excuses not to ride my bike or walk short distances because of the rain.  I imagine the fact that we're one of the lightening capitals of the world might contribute to it, but on a day like this - it's good to be out in.  And there are, in a good year, a lot of days like this. No more excuses.

Clothesline Weather

This is the time of year we look forward to and brag about and seem to really appreciate.  It’s cool and dry, for the most part, and the burst of color from otherwise non-descript azalea bushes and dogwood, redbud, and plum trees will continue for a month if we don’t have a torrential downpour or killing frost (unfortunately fairly common this time of year).   I think their fragility and fleetingness make us appreciate them more.  Just like the month of March in general - these cool, dry days are going to melt into heat and humidity before you know it. 

Hanging clothes on the line is a real pleasure during this time of year.  The combination of low humidity and breeziness helps them dry so quickly; you could get two loads out in one day if you were motivated. There have been busy times in my life – when my kids were very small or when I worked full-time – when putting the clothes out in the morning was one of the most peaceful times of the day.  It was sometimes the only quiet time I had outdoors on a weekday. I wrote down once in an old journal, so I would remember, what it looked like to have cloth diapers on the line and children playing on the swings.  I remember it was good. 

It’s still good.  I don’t mind the slight stiffness of hung-out clothes or the potential wrinkliness of “permanent press” stuff.  I actually like the scratchy towels.  And I still love getting out there first thing in the morning – me and the birds (and the dog and the chickens and sometimes Riley, and soon mosquitoes...).   

And I really love that it’s so easy to tap into solar energy this way. I would really like to buy a solar collector for our roof, and I understand it’s less expensive these days with GRU rebates, But this only cost a couple dollars in clothesline.  Couldn’t be simpler.