Gratitude Day 8: Laundry

"Ephraim's Secret"
Tucked away behind the Ephraim Bales place is a series of cascades on Roaring Fork. The rain
had stopped and the sun was streaming through the thick mist  along the creek when this photograph was taken.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
© 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved
No, I'm not really grateful for mounds of dirty, stinky laundry that pile up really, really fast. Surely no one is grateful for dirty laundry. Instead I am grateful for a modern washer and dryer that both work and make the chore of doing laundry much easier than it might be otherwise. Just think, the mountain women had to haul in water and do laundry by streams such as this one in the Smokies. I waded into thigh-high water for this shot a few months ago. The weather was warm and the water felt good. Doing laundry here in January would not feel quite so good.

Laundry has another positive -- clean sheets. I just finished putting clean sheets on my bed. Falling asleep on soft, smooth, freshly laundered sheets is amazing. Soft, clean clothes are pretty wonderful too, especially if they aren't wrinkled so I don't feel compelled to iron them. I did a bunch of laundry today and folded more towels and washcloths than I can count, but I can see down to the coverlet on the guest bed, so I accomplished something. For a day when I've felt like, uh, well...never mind, accomplishing anything is a miracle. I hope tomorrow is a better day. We'll find out soon enough, after I test out those clean sheets. :)

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