Ducks

A few years ago my washing machine "went out". It was pretty old, so my son decided he'd buy mom a new one. Not too long after I got it, just long enough to be out of warranty, it started making some crazy noise on the spin cycle, which we learned to live with rather than pay for an expensive repair. Then it started leaking, first a little, and soon so much that I had to stand by the machine through the entire cycle mopping up wash water, for 45 minutes! I researched what the probable cause was, and determined that a repair was not the best solution. The machine needed to be replaced.
About a week ago, while out making his rounds as a pool maintenance man, another of my sons found a machine out by the road for trash pickup, and decided he'd bring it home, make repairs if possible and needed, and bring it to me if he could make it work. It made a noise too when he tested it, but when he hooked it up at my house it appeared to be working great! A day or two later I did some laundry, and the noise returned, thus the reason it was at the road, but it doesn't leak! So we exchanged one noise and a leak for different noise without a leak. My seasonal income prevents me from buying a new one right now, when I'm able I will. Mean while, I guess you could say laundry day at my house brings a new meaning to the term "squeaky clean"!
It reminds me of a time years ago when all the kids were little, how big a chore laundry was for our family of 9! I was hanging clothes on a clothes line to dry, it was a dryer I didn't have then. That was really not a problem, except for the quantity, since in Florida there are lots of warm sunny days that make line drying fast. Well, we were in a rainy spell, and I really needed to to do laundry, it had been delayed because of the weather as long as I could wait to get it done. Frustrated, I stepped out onto the covered front porch, hoping to get a broader look at the sky, and spot a clearing in the clouds. It was gray, it was drizzly, the only thing clear was that no clothes would be hung on the line that day, but to my surprise, right out in my front yard, were ducks. lazily swimming in what was once a grassy area, heads bobbing up and down in search of tasty treats offered up by the days of rain! My plans were thwarted, I could not complete the tasks I'd hoped to, but in the world of those ducks, it was a great day! All was good, very very good!

Laundry Day

I needed to do laundry
but my dryer is broke,
with baskets running over
I thought "this is a joke!"

I turned the washer knob
and put in a cup of soap,
then saw raindrops on the window,
and lost all hope,

of hanging out the clothes to dry
beneath the suns warm rays,
as I muttered quietly,
"I'm so tired of rainy days."

I went into the living room
to peer out through the glass
at the puddle in my front yard
where I normally see grass!

A pair of ducks were frolicking
right there on my front lawn'
gliding all around,
heads bobbing up and down,

apparently delighting in
some very special treat
that a long night of rain
had provided them to eat.

The skies were dull and gray
but the trees were shiny green,
the sidewalk had a scrubbing,
and everything looked clean.

I stepped outdoors onto the porch
and breathed a long deep breath,
there was no scent of anything
that wasn't clean and fresh.

A few raindrops still fell,
dancing lightly on my skin,
as my thoughts turned back to
baskets of laundry once again.

I knew it had to wait,
to be cleaned some other time,
today it was the earths turn
to wash away it's grime.

So maybe it'll mean
I'll have an extra load or two,
but scenes of ducks on my front lawn
are seldom, and too few.

Sometimes it takes a little rain
in life to make me see,
beyond the never ending
mounds of dirty laundry!

pj