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July 07, 2005
The Old Fashioned Way
Dryers had no place in my childhood. In our little Kapahulu apartment none of the renters had dryers. Everyone hung their clothes down the lines that stretched from end to end like electric wires. When my family moved to our home out in Hawaii Kai, we were fascinated by the cream-colored companion to the washer. But Dad quickly installed clotheslines in the carport running parallel to our two cars, and we ducked t-shirts and towels as we crawled into the family van.
In fact, we only used the dryer once: to dry a sopping wet bedspread. The resulting electric bill easily convinced us that the dryer was little more than an extra countertop which, if humored, would liberally squander energy.
In college, the dryer confronted me again. Everyone else was doing it; they tossed in dryer sheets, cleaned filters, and turned knobs with knowledgeable grace. But when I tried it, my jeans and shirts -- which had hitherto never tumbled in such heat -- neatly shortened themselves when I already had no length to spare. Thus embittered, I quickly bought a wooden drying rack, saving quarters and clothes by hanging my laundry in my dorm room.
This past winter, my first wifely winter on the mainland, the dryer unexpectedly became my bosom friend by providing extra heat in a drafty house. I knew that hanging clothes outside was a ridiculous impossibility, but I still felt twinges of guilt over my traitorous indulgence.
Back in Hawaii, the dryer still sits there, vacant, less of a budget concern and more a matter of preference. Hanging laundry is my mother's favorite chore. She says there's relaxation to be found in the rhythm of sorting and pinning in long, swaying rows.
I'm learning that domestic joy again, this summer, and feeling closer to home because of it.
(Plus, I'm getting bonus wife points for keeping the electric bill down.)
Domestic , Hawaii | By elissa | 06:42 PM
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Comments
oh how i miss you.
Posted by: lydia at July 7, 2005 11:17 PM
I had to laugh at this.
Your sherbet shirts are very pretty hanging there on the line.
It was so good to meet you!
tj
Posted by: Tarah at July 10, 2005 05:31 AM
