Being There

One difference between our old house and our new house is that we no longer have a dishwasher. Or rather, Hux and I are the dishwashers (mostly Hux - I do the cooking). Right after moving in, we hated it. It takes longer. Drying dishes take up all our counter space. It's more work in general.

A few weeks back, she turned from the sink and told me how much she enjoys dishwashing. "It's relaxing," she said.

Next time I did dishes, those words came back to me, and I realized she's right. Yeah, it takes longer. But there's something to be said for not putting distance between you and the thing you're doing. If your dishes need to be cleaned, you clean them, you don't prepare them to be cleaned by a device. You are more aware of the thing you are doing. You soap up the dishes. You scrub off the food. When they are clean, you set them down to dry. Nothing in the way. You do what you do.

Hux dries our clothes on a clothesline too. No dryer in the way. She puts up the wet clothes. She takes down the dry clothes. And when we wear them, we don't smell lint and fabric softener. We smell the wind, the pollen, the dew, whatever particular weather that was going on while they were drying. We are aware of the weather, aware of our clothes.

Admittedly, this is being said by a man who calls himself a writer, but almost never puts an actual pen to an actual piece of paper. The only time I handle paper is to put it in the printer. But I'm learning. I'm learning from Hux.

Thanks, Hux.