Day 265, Year 6 Washer Woman
Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011
Weather: Beautiful Weather–Sunny, 80 degrees F
Location: Eel Pond, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
This afternoon I was doing laundry on the back deck in buckets and hanging sheets on the life lines as I have done for the past five and half years. But in this location, this is not a normal activity and people in small boats kept coming by and pointing and saying something to their children. I think it was a bit of a spectacle. This reminded me of all the times I have taken photos of village women washing their clothes in a river or stream by beating the clothes on rocks and hanging them on bushes to dry. I didn’t see any cameras today, so hopefully no one got my photo doing laundry. But the whole experience reminded me just how different life on land in the United States is from island life in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. I don’t know how much water a washing machine uses to wash a load of sheets, but somehow I feel like I am conserving water and energy by doing this job by hand. And I MUCH prefer the feel of sheets that have been dried on a line outside to those that have been dried in a dryer. I do most of our laundry now by taking it to Heather and Jed’s and combining it with their laundry loads. But until the snow flies, I think I’ll still do our sheets here on Windbird.
After taking Mark to work this morning, I met Heather, Sam, and Jonah at the East Falmouth Elementary School where I watched the boys while Heather and Jed went to the Eco-Toilet display in the school. They would love to have a composting toilet but before making a decision to install one of these in their home, they are going to have to decide how long they think they will be living there. Not just everyone wants a composting toilet, so unless they are staying put for quite some time, that desire will just have to wait. Sam, Jonah, and I had a great time playing on the school playground and then going on a safari in South Africa. Sam has a fantastic imagination and he took us to the car which became an airplane and when we landed, he rode his bike as safari guide and Jonah and I followed with me pulling Jonah in the wagon. Sam made a great guide spotting lots of wildlife and Jonah went right along with program. When Sam would tell us to stop and look at the family of giraffes, Jonah would say, “Where?” When Sam told him where to look, Jonah would acknowledge that he saw them and on it went. After our time at the school, we all went to the nearby Saturday Farmer’s Market to buy veggies for the week. Then it was back to Heather and Jed’s for lunch. After lunch, I drove the car back to West Marine and left it for Mark to drive home while I took the trolley to Wood’s Hole. The trolley is the best deal going. It runs every 30 minutes and only costs $1 for seniors. In the summer it runs seven days a week and with the cost of fuel these days, it is a great way to travel.
We actually think we will spend the whole day on Windbird tomorrow catching up on all those little jobs that we have been putting off. First on the list will be to connect the new hot water heater, and if that is successful, the second job will be for me to take a warm shower on Windbird. I have been showering at Heather and Jed’s because the water here is soooo cold. Mark has been braving it and taking cold showers, but I think even he will be happy to once again have hot water on Windbird.
