TheBanyanTree: Gratitude - and thinking back

[Russ Doden]

Today I feel mellow.  Not ambitious, not "gung ho" to do anything, just . .
. mellow and introspective.  I have managed to get breakfast in me, and a
load of clothes in the washer.  As I sit here, sipping on the last of my
morning coffee, my mind started to wander down strange alley's.  (It had
better be careful doing that or it is going to get mugged one of these
days.) Anyhow, I started thinking along the lines of gratitude.  Yeah, that
is something that is coming up in my conversations and thoughts a lot
lately it seems.  So here I am, sitting in a comfy chair, sipping on
excellent coffee, working on a very small computer that allows me to
communicate with people all over the world, and my clothes are being washed
for me!

Pretty soon they will be in another machine getting dry!

That may not seem like a big deal, but it got me to thinking.  (Yeah,
always dangerous.) When I was a kid, when laundry day came, we took the
clothes down to the basement and started the laundry.  Oh, we had a washing
machine (this memory was from was circa late 1950's) but it wasn't totally
"put the clothes in the machine, close the lid, flip a button or two and
forget it".  In the first place it didn't have a lid.  I can't remember the
details, but I do remember you had to watch the beast to make sure the
water shut off at the appropriate times, and refilled properly - and make
sure the belt didn't jump the pulley at the bottom.

When the washing was done, it stopped, you took the wet clothes out, put
them in another tub so you could wash another batch of clothes.  Yes, you
used the same water you used for the batch you just took out.  You washed
the least dirty clothes first, then went to progresively dirtier loads.
When finished you put the drain hose in the drain and let the dirty water
drain out.  Then you refilled the washing machine with fresh water and
repeated the process, and that was the rinse cycle.  It didn't go through a
"spin cycle" to get the water out.  It stopped washing (or in the rise
phase washing the soap out) and stopped.  In either case you put the drain
hose down to the drain, and gravity drained the tank. Then you started the
wringer.  Yeah, it was a wringer washer.  That means you carefully put
clothes into the wringer one item at a time and guided them into the
rollers of the wringer, being careful to keep fingers out of said wringer.
(I wasn't careful one time and my arm went into the wringer up to my elbow
before we got it shut off.  We had a heck of a time getting the wringer
assembly released to get my arm out, and I was rushed to the doctor.  Since
we hadn't "reversed" the wringer all was well.  We were told that had my
mom reversed the wringer to get me out, it would have done all kinds of
damage.)

Anyhow, after each batch of clothes were run through the wringer we would
take them out and hang them on the clothes line to dry.  If it was raining,
we did have back up clothes lines in the basement, but that was only for
rainy days because often other jobs were going on in the basement as well -
among which was putting coal in the furnace, removing coal "clinkers" or
ashes, and other things like that - not good for wet clothes in the process
of drying!  If it was cold, (this was up in Iowa and winters are cold) we
still hung the clothes out.  They would freeze stiff, then somehow
magically dry from there.  That always mystified me as a kid.

Yeah, the clothes came in smelling wonderfully fresh, but it was a lot of
work to tend the washing machine, run the clothes through the wringer, hang
them out and then later on take them down before taking them in to fold
and/or iron.  I still have the old basket that the clothes pins were in -
and yes those clothes pins are still in the basket - some 40+ years after
they were last really used.  Imagine what luxury my mom felt when she got a
washing machine that washed, rinsed, and drained and even did a "spin
cycle" to get the water mostly all out AND then just put the clothes in
another machine to get them dry!  No, they didn't come out smelling nice
and "outdoor fresh", but it didn't make any difference if it was raining or
not, and by then we didn't even have to shovel coal in the furnace either!

This has me thinking about so many little luxuries that have become
"normal" to me - so today I feel grateful.  I can't help but be amazed as I
look back over my life and see how so many things have become "push button"
or automatic, or even not necessary, and wonder what is yet to come.  I
look at my recently acquired "smart phone" and am amazed at what it
represents.  The really astounding thing is that something like that is now
considered "normal" and a device that many feel necessary!  In my mind, in
some long forgotten time, to make a phone call, you picked up a device on
the wall, told the operator the number - or even just the name of the
person you wanted to call, and the call was placed.  When you got a call,
your phone would have a distinct pattern of rings - because it was a party
line and several homes would be on the same circuit.  Computers were just
in the very beginning phase; camera's used film and were sometimes
contrary; you used checks or cash as credit cards weren't heard of yet;
music was played on the radio and TV was black and white - if you had TV at
all; letters were sent by the postal service; and the alarm clock was wound
up and setting on the night stand.

Like I have said several times, today I feel grateful - and more than just
a little in awe.

Russ

-- 
Enjoy Life By Living In Joy

Well Being Consultant
www.rldwbc.com