Today is a German bank holiday. The occassion is 'Pfingsten', or 'Pentacost.' One of our colleagues described it over lunch as the day the Holy Spirit descends from Heaven to hang in the Vatican for a day. Big holy summit, I guess. Or maybe they just watch soccer and talk smack about the Heathens. We celebrated Pfingsten Monday with an agnostic trip to the Schwimmbad, where the pools are heated and the light blue Speedos are woefully plentiful. Alas.
Now we are home and I am pondering the laundry, wondering if quantum physics is of any use at all in daily life. If I don't go downstairs and observe it, how do I know if it's clean or dirty? Maybe it no longer exists when I'm not looking at it, in which case I won't need to wash it as long as I never go down to the laundry room again. But then what will we wear? Quantum physics is stubbornly silent about that.
The burst of housewifely energy I had last week has dissipated in the general exhaustion of a three-day weekend. This morning I was proud just to get my hair into a ponytail and put on shoes. But in a single day not so long ago I shopped, did laundry, made fresh organic fruit popsicles and home made chicken nuggets, baked a cake, brushed the cat and even ironed
When Ralf came home I struck a pose and announced: 'I am a capable woman.'
He agreed completely as he helped himself to a cold beer. 'Absolutely.'
Then, with an evil grin, he added, ' Capable of anything.'
Har, har. But not today. . . today I'd rather be......
I hate laundry. Well let me make that clearer. I used to love it. What??? Yeah. "My mother told me" that there was a day when we didn't have dryers and hung them on the line. Then we sprinkled the dry clothes and rolled them up in a tight roll to ....I don't know..marinate?? about a day. Then we HAD to iron the next day or they would all mildew and who wanted that. Today washing is a snap. I haven't ironed in I don't know how long but I think Nixon might have been in office. I do however still hang them out (sometimes) because I just like the smell. I don't like the bird itshay, but that's another post. And after all that, I still STILL STILLLLLLL hate to fold them and put them away. Absolutely hate it. It's hard to have everything in life. I've had laundry sitting on the floor for the whole week. But then as a single woman, I can do whatever I want!
ReplyDeleteSo, this holiday means you have work off?
ReplyDeleteWell, technically true although I have a customer call tonight. But 'not working' sadly doesn't mean lounging about sipping coffee and nibbling cake while I read a great book. Weekends can be rough!
ReplyDeleteI know it's really juvenile, but 'Pfingsten' just looks like a slang word for flatulence to me. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of not doing laundry is standing in the next room listening to my son open and close the dryer in hopes that a pair of clean pants will magically appear. Nope. Still that load of towels from 2 days ago.
Laura, I had to delete your comment! Sorry. My braless German coworker reads my blog, and will definitely be reading the comments, so I didn't want her to see it.
ReplyDeleteI only talk about her behind her back. Other than the lack of bra, she's great.
If you want to leave another comment, for posterity, feel free!
Well then, I guess it's Happy Pfingsten!
ReplyDeleteAh, the joy of double entendres. Happy Pfinglugersteingish!
ReplyDeleteunfortunately, our house is too small to hide laundry
ReplyDeleteOh lordy, the same goes with my last couple days here at school before finals week. I was so calm and collected, turning in my work on time. Now it's one foot in front of the other just to get from the bed to the bathroom to brush my teeth in the morning!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some rest and find a way to rejuvenate!
Aaaaah, laundry!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I love to count stuff as I put them away: per day, the boy's got one of each: T-shirt, pair of socks, undies... Then there's the youngest, a girl, and I'm amazed how many different shirts she wears: doubling up, changing for the afternoon or evening, and the "I just changed my mind..." It's funny and infuriating all at once...
And Pfingsten! My parents called and even quizzed me if I still remembered what Pfingsten is -- I only replied: you have too many holidays to keep track of...
Blogger was not accepting my comments. I'll try again: a ride in an open top car beats doing the laundry any day!
ReplyDeleteI actually love laundry (yeah, I am a freak but you probably knew that already)! I am so bedazzled by the smell of clean clothes, that I really don't care about foldind, sorting and putting away. But still, a ride in a cabrio in a sunny day is always my choice over laundry!
ReplyDelete