Mundane to the Sublime

Using a red washer and red dryer makes me smile...

This morning I stripped all the bedding and took both sets of sheets and towels to the launderette around the corner.  I do have a washer/dryer combination in the apartment, but it's not big enough to handle two sets of king size bedding and all the towels in the apartment.  Jason usually picks up these bigger laundry loads and takes them to the "nunnery" that operates a laundry service.  But he's not had the occasion to be in town and I wanted this done, so I ventured off to the launderette.

There was a certain familiarity to the machines and once I realized that there was a central payment machine--pretty nifty, really--one "teller" operates all the machines, I was on my way to clean linens. The place was clean, has free wifi and all of the machines were clean and in good working order.  I had my notebook with me and was able to put the time to very good use.  

You can see that it's not cheap!

Doing laundry here is expensive, so I think twice before putting something in the wash just because I wore it once.  It's not as if I am out doing field work on a farm. Really, how dirty did my jeans get today when all I did was take a walk and do the dishes and sit at my computer?  As long as I am clean and my unmentionables are clean and fresh, I feel okay about it. A big machine-- for all the big items I had, costs 7 Euros 60 for a wash. Drying time is 1 Euro 20 for 10 minutes. My laundry took 30 minutes to dry.  I think that when things become expensive enough, we really start to appreciate the resources of the planet and not waste them.  

I came home and chopped vegetables for soup and listened to the radio. They played a recording of Claudio Abbado conducting Mahler's Second Symphony.  It knocked the wind out of me--by the middle of the last movement I was streaming tears; it was that beautiful. I know what dawn sounds like, and it's that last movement when the chorus comes in and is intentionally barely audible.  I didn't dare breathe for fear I would miss a single note.  The soup won't need any salt.  

Now they are playing several movements from Verdi's Requiem---I am wrung out!  The sun is shining this afternoon and I think a little walk would be in order.  What a wonderful day this has been.  I must be in the right place on the planet, because something as pedestrian as doing the wash felt right.

A sing-song nursery rhyme taught me that Monday is wash day.