I have never met anyone who loves doing laundry: male, female, old or young. I, too, fall into this category – laundry is not my forte. I have often asked myself how I can so fervently enjoy shopping for and purchasing new clothing items and yet disdain the very thought of keeping them in tip-top condition through the laundry process. It is illogical. Discombobulating. A mystery of sorts!

Personally, I got my best skills for doing laundry from Mama. I recall the hours she spent washing for the family: separating clothes, putting them through the wash and dry cycles, hanging up blue jeans to dry naturally. I also recalled it wasn’t her favorite event – alas, that gene still lives in me.

I suppose I shouldn’t whine about my life as a laundress. I recall as a child my precious great grandma and her old washing machine braving the elements on the outside back porch. Bless her heart, she had to gather the ‘dirty’ clothes – rain, shine, sleet and heat – put them into the opened top washer and after the washing and rinsing processes were finished, hand-feed each item through the ringer to remove the water. It took forever. Heaven forbid if a finger got too close, it was gone for good.

Then there are the stories prior to the back porch washing machine ‘wonder’ of taking the rub board, going to the creek and doing laundry on the clay banks. I cannot fathom. My appreciation of these strong family laundry matriarchs is trenched in deep respect and admiration! I conclude I come from a strong stock of women who knew how to get the laundry done well.

Somewhere in my childhood memory there are sheets and other clothing items blowing in the breeze – literally. My above-mentioned foremothers had to hang their laundry on clotheslines and let the warm sunshine dry them. There was always a long stick in the middle of the line to push the weight of the load upward and to prevent the clothing items from touching the ground below. Sounds lovely and refreshing and back to nature, but there were also rainy, cold days when it wasn’t so endearing – days when the lady of the house had to run outside and grab that same laundry from the line, clothes pins flying everywhere! However, a woman had to do what a woman had to do, and laundry was a must.

I’m thinking that’s why – before the advent of modern washers and dryers – closets were scantly furbished and dresses were only ordered twice a year, usually one or two, from the Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogues. Shopping consisted of pulling out the worn catalog, eagerly perusing the pages, filling out the order form, then mailing if off to the company. The anticipation of getting a new dress or two had the lady of the house eagerly checking the outside mailbox for weeks! I recall how excited my grandma was and how she pondered for days before placing her order. Today, the internet has taken the place of those old catalogs and closets are bursting at the seams for most of us.

Perhaps, I’ll change my habits and adopt my grandma’s practice of buying clothes only twice a year, on-line, without all the aggravation of shopping on-site. I can purchase two items and save myself the much-needed closet space. My laundry load would diminish by scads and my water bill would greatly decrease! It would be liberating! Time saving! Earth friendly! It would be…boring.

I confess I was born into a family of magnificent laundresses and I, too, must carry on the tradition of washing and drying with dedication and fanfare. I will prevail. I will carry on…even if I have to endure occasional wash day blues.