Thursday 23 February 2017

Laundry Day

As a person who loves clothes, one would think that I'd actually enjoy laundering them. Who would enjoy the chore, right? It is after all another form of work, another responsibility piled up on the anthill labeled "Morgen". Often, I leave my beloved sulking in the corner for weeks. Every few weeks, I tell myself: I need more washing nets.

But I do enjoy doing the laundry.

I sit leaning against the cupboard, scooping piles of garments off of the faltered laundry basket, before fishing out from its depths the ones that have been suffocating for a period so long, I'm embarrassed to admit it. Ah, such is the amount of my dirty laundry. The pieces of rags that require the delicate treatment of royalty, the hand-wash clothing, they are the worst, but alas, the dearest. Most of the time, I ignore their plight and stuff them into laundry nets anyway. Folded neatly, of course. If they are twisted out of shape, both of us weep.

Sorting them out is a time I consider peaceful. The luxury of being able to bask in the comforts of knowing that you are wasting precious time on a responsible task only comes to those who forget to live. And so I hum and sing while I toss the cheap, durable ones aside-- these peasants do not need the protection of petty washing nets. I reminisce every piece as I categorise them. Where did I get this? Oh, such a steal! I wonder who owned this before I bought it, are they still alive? And this isn't even mine.

Softener leaves a bitter taste in my throat but I would rather not do the laundry if I had none! Once one discovers the difference softener makes in one's life, there is no going back to the primitive laundry days of washing without softener! It has also made me love my clothes more, if I didn't already love them enough before softener came into the picture. This body that is now used to only the softest, gets irritated by the coarseness of un-softened clothes.

It was relaxing, while it lasted, seeing the ones that can't be tumble dried flutter in the passing wind.

"und die Vögel singen nicht mehr..."








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