My intention was to go back to sleep after I said goodbye to Bob and Greg shortly after 6:00 this morning. They were headed out for a day of waste vegetable oil collection which would involve endless hours of standing on hot asphalt with a hose, sucking warm oil into the pumper truck.
The high was supposed to reach 99 degrees, just like it has been all week and they had decided to get an early start to avoid some of the heat. So we found ourselves up an hour early after getting to bed an hour late, packing a lunch and some dry tee shirts.
They drove off and I went and lay down on the bed. I was looking forward to going for a walk with Dana and Jessi in three hours and had plenty of time for a nap.
Thirty seconds later, I got up to bring my phone into the bedroom. On my return, I looked down at the unmade bed, remembered today was laundry day and decided to strip the bed. I figured I could lay down on the comforter while the washer did its thing. And then I thought I’d take out the compost.
When I got outside, I decided to water the garden while it was still cool. By the time I finished the outdoor chores, the washing machine was ready for a second load. And so it went, right up until I found myself hanging clothes on the line.
That’s when I had one of those “Ahhhhhhh” moments. I had crossed over into the timelessness of an age old activity. I felt Amish. I was so absorbed in the process of picking up each pair of shorts, each tee shirt and pinning it to the clothesline that I felt like an artist.
The sun was warm on my shoulders, the sound of the birds chatting in the trees made me feel a part of nature and I was thankful that the sun was going to dry these clothes for me on this day. I live for the Ahhhhh moments and sometimes they are as simple as drying clothes in the sun on a hot day.
