Yesterday I did my laundry. Now normally, I would have 3-4 loads of laundry, towels and sheets, all kinds of odds and ends. Today I did one load and felt accomplished afterwards! Because the task is a multi-step process and it involves actual work, it made me feel like I was actually involved. We are blessed with a washing machine here in the guest house, but like none I’ve seen before.
Washing goes like this:
Step 1: Fill the machine with water
Step 2: Put the clothes and powder in
Step 3: Turn the knob to agitate and wait for 12 minutes
Step 4: Switch the knob to drain and let the water drain from the machine
Step 5: Fill the machine again with water (this is the rinse cycle)
Step 6: Turn the knob to agitate and wait for 12 minutes
Step 7: Switch the knob again to drain and let the water drain from the machine
Now….. if you want to spin the clothes so they’re not as wet when you put them on the line, take half the load and place in the spinner, set the timer for 5 minutes and wait. Repeat as desired.
Then you hang them on the line and wait for the load to dry. Check by every once and a while. It only takes a few hours in the hot weather to dry most of my clothes.In the Monsoon season, it takes a bit longer and you must hang them under covered roofs….
Of course, India has plenty of options for machines - ones that are fully automated, but this is the one at the Guest House and it works. And afterwards, I felt like I accomplished a major task.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my fabric softener and fresh laundry smells. I love my dryer and the fact that I can multi-task while “doing the laundry.” Perhaps in making our daily tasks fast and easy, we’ve taken away the joy of work.