Tuesday, July 25, 2006

The Joy of Suds


In these hot, long, July days, the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot sink, Marigolds on hands, washing dishes. Mind you, the last thing I want to be doing on a cold, short January day is standing over a hot sink washing dishes. But unfortunately, washing dishes is almost as inevitable as the other 2 inevitables. Cooking always equals some sort of cleaning up, even at a picnic or a BBQ.

Washing dishes has become a ritual for me. A rite of passage to a much deserved clean kitchen. I enter almost a trance-like state, my own form of meditation, my anxieties washing away with each crumb, smear or stain to leave an ambient, serene space on the plate.

I enter the dishwashing meditation with a series of exercises. Stacking plates, collecting glasses, cleaning the sink. This follows by filling the basin with pure, hot, sudsy water and emersing all the glasses leaving them to soak, long enough for the water to cool down to a bearable temperature. With my yellow Marigolds on, I begin a fast tempo'd dance, picking up each glass, mug, bowl and plate quickly so as not to burn my hands. The action becomes blurry as I wipe, scrub and wash each and every utensil that has been in use that day. The dirtiest gets a long, relaxing bath, while the rest of the kitchen gets a once, twice or even a third time over.

Some say I'm obsessed, some say I have OCD, but one thing is for sure, if I didn't wash the dishes I wouldn't be able to cook. And then I would be lost...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very interesting view of a task most of us consider mundane.

Lovely post, Bonnie!

Anonymous said...

Oh Bonnie I really enjoyed reading this post, and I LOVE the picture, it's great! My husband (British) says I have OCD (and I don't disagree with him) - I just don't like people here don't rinse the plates etc, it's not the right way to do washing up, is it? :)

Bonnie said...

Keiko, I completely agree. I don't think my other half (British) understands the concept of stacking, but truely believes in soaking. Which really frustrates me sometimes because I come home to find a bowl of stale, dirty water. Maybe they should go to washing up school??

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