Before the invention of the electric washing machine, it would take a woman six hours to do one load of laundry. Six hours. One load. (Air-dry time, pressing, and folding not included.)
This little factoid just reminded me of a load of towels I washed yesterday. They are still in the machine. I will have to run them again, and hopefully, remember to transfer them to the dryer this time. From start to finish, this could take an hour-and-a-half. And I want to whine about it. I want to pout and throw up my hands in surrender because there is so much laundry to do. All of the time. Piles and piles of it.
When I was younger, I was certain that I had been born in the wrong era. I should have been a prairie girl, or a 1920’s flapper, right out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, or part of the Greatest Generation (for sure). Now that I am older and maybe just a teeny bit wiser, I am convinced that “Laura Ingles Wilder” I am not. I love my electric washing machine (I love electricity in general). I love my cell phone and high-speed internet. I love going to movies, online banking, blue jeans, and my grind & brew coffee maker (hallelujah for my coffee maker!). I am so appreciative of the modern conveniences I get to enjoy (and fully embrace) on a daily basis. God made no mistake when he brought this life into the world in 1973.
Sometimes I get restless and critical, worried and depressed when I look at the world I live in. I can easily get caught up in all the “bad” out there. Yet, I kind of get the impression that God is still present in all this chaos. He’s still moving, working, blessing, and redeeming. He even had the forethought and grace to make sure that the electric washing machine was a standard home appliance for a gal like me.
That the sun so graciously decided to poke its head out of the clouds for a brief moment this morning could quite possibly be the inspiration for this random stream of thought. Or maybe I just needed to pull myself up out of negativity and remind myself that it could always be worse. I could have been born in a time when bathrooms were outhouses and mornings were spent milking cows, baking bread, and feeding the chickens.
Wherever the inspiration came from…I’m just plain thankful today. And that’s all I’ve got to say.
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Yeah for computers and blogging, too!
Amen to that!