~and a dishwasher is not one of them~
When we first came to the Red River area back in 2015, I ended up with a teaching position 30 miles to the southeast of us here in Burkburnett. I was the language arts teacher for grades 4-6 at the elementary school in Petrolia, a small town of under 1,000 people. It was a new type of position for me, but since I love language and writing it seemed to be a perfect fit.
One of the very first assignments I gave my more than 120 students was to write about what it had been like to endure a drought of well over 3 years. It was one that had finally broken only a couple of months before Mike and I made it here. Their stories and heartfelt remembrances of all they endured simply because there was no water to be had were quite eye opening to me. One of the most touching of their memories was that of a young 5th grade girl who, rather than telling me something bad that she remembered, relayed with a smile on her face a special message.
My mom always reminded us kids as we got older and had families of our own that she didn't need a fancy dishwasher back in the old days. She already had 7 of them and they came with two hands that could either choose to wash or to dry. The first dishwasher that I remember having as an adult was purchased in 1988, just about the time my middle son was born. When Mike and I got married in 2013, I moved with him to Colorado to the more than 100 year old farmhouse that he was living in. There was no dishwasher there, only a sink that faced the most beautiful view of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. As long as you could look out that window, you sometimes forgot that you did dishes by hand.
During the past 4 years that we have lived here along the northern border of Texas, we've been fortunate to have a dishwasher. I would have to admit that it did come in handy as we hurried about our day. A week ago last Sunday, we gave up the every day luxury of having many things and a dishwasher was one of them. Each evening now you can find us at the kitchen sink here in this tiny cabin as we wash and dry the few items that we have dirtied up in the course of one day. It's not so bad and just like that young 5th grader from Petrolia said, it has given us time to talk about the day's events as well as what tomorrow might have the chance to bring.
Soon we will move to our new home in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The house there has an old dishwasher that Mike and I felt we would pull out once we arrive. Rather than putting a new one in, we have made the decision to just live without one. Both of us agreed that making a choice for having none would save space, money, water, and electricity as well. Besides that, when you wash dishes by hand you can almost guarantee they will be clean and free of spots.
There are plenty of things in life that I would hate to do without and at age 63, the amazing thing is this.
A dishwasher is not one of them.
Mom and Dad with 6 of their 7 "dishwashers". The little baby girl in her momma's lap grew up to be me. Our baby sister Cindy was still the "twinkle in our daddy's eyes".
One of the very first assignments I gave my more than 120 students was to write about what it had been like to endure a drought of well over 3 years. It was one that had finally broken only a couple of months before Mike and I made it here. Their stories and heartfelt remembrances of all they endured simply because there was no water to be had were quite eye opening to me. One of the most touching of their memories was that of a young 5th grade girl who, rather than telling me something bad that she remembered, relayed with a smile on her face a special message.
"We couldn't use our dishwasher any more because it took so much water to run it. So my mom and I learned to do dishes together at the kitchen sink. I didn't mind it so much because we had a chance to talk about stuff while we were doing the dishes."And you know what? That young lady was right. You do have a chance to talk about life when you wash dishes with someone.
My mom always reminded us kids as we got older and had families of our own that she didn't need a fancy dishwasher back in the old days. She already had 7 of them and they came with two hands that could either choose to wash or to dry. The first dishwasher that I remember having as an adult was purchased in 1988, just about the time my middle son was born. When Mike and I got married in 2013, I moved with him to Colorado to the more than 100 year old farmhouse that he was living in. There was no dishwasher there, only a sink that faced the most beautiful view of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. As long as you could look out that window, you sometimes forgot that you did dishes by hand.
During the past 4 years that we have lived here along the northern border of Texas, we've been fortunate to have a dishwasher. I would have to admit that it did come in handy as we hurried about our day. A week ago last Sunday, we gave up the every day luxury of having many things and a dishwasher was one of them. Each evening now you can find us at the kitchen sink here in this tiny cabin as we wash and dry the few items that we have dirtied up in the course of one day. It's not so bad and just like that young 5th grader from Petrolia said, it has given us time to talk about the day's events as well as what tomorrow might have the chance to bring.
Soon we will move to our new home in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The house there has an old dishwasher that Mike and I felt we would pull out once we arrive. Rather than putting a new one in, we have made the decision to just live without one. Both of us agreed that making a choice for having none would save space, money, water, and electricity as well. Besides that, when you wash dishes by hand you can almost guarantee they will be clean and free of spots.
There are plenty of things in life that I would hate to do without and at age 63, the amazing thing is this.
A dishwasher is not one of them.
Tiny cabin life includes washing dishes by hand.
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