In Every Season, There Is Laundry!

 

There is one thing that mothers the world around cannot escape: laundry.    As a missionary wife and mother, I find myself no exception to this rule.  Wow-zers!  As we live in the 100-120 degree heat of Niger, we have come to the realization that there is no “let’s-re-wear-this-to-save-on-laundry” option.  You wear, you WASH, baby!  No discussion.  The only possible exception is pajamas that are worn to bed in the AC, but that is only IF the electricity stayed on all night in order for us to have had AC all night.  Jonathan coined a silly song we like to sing in those “you-either-laugh-or-you-cry” moments:  “We are a fraaaaagrant offeeeeeeering,” we croon at the top of our lungs.  I doubt that it ever occurred to us as we sang in devout worship those many years ago in Bible School, offering our lives in complete surrender to the Lord as a fragrant offering, that THIS is how it would turn out to be.  The fact is that if I’m not faithful to do laundry on a daily basis, our “sacrifice of praise” might just get the better of us!    

 

Let me introduce you to DW (Dear Washer). 

 

My laundry room.  Simple, but efficient.  The home of DW.

 

DW and I have a deal.  I do, WHATEVER it says to do, just to try to squeak out a clean load of laundry.  The song-and-dance routine I do has increased over the years.  At first, we worked very well together.  I was the boss.  I told IT what to do, and it would do it.  This lasted for 2 happy years.  In December, DW went on strike, and stopped working.  This meant that I had to HAND-wash the clothing for the entire family for about a month.  Keep in mind that there are 5 of us, 3 of which are very small and very busy and LOVE to play in the sand.  Also, keep in mind that we have NO grass here to shield our clothing from said sand, which also happens to be a very lovely shade of brilliant (PERMANENT!) orange. 



Our sand.  Gotta love it...  Because it's EVERYWHERE!

It really IS beautiful...

 

It was a very LOOOOOONG month, but I must say, I learned a few very valuable lessons.  1.) If you stalk your children relentlessly, you may be able to save yourself from washing a few extra items of clothing.  2.) The kids and I could have some really fun times working together to wash all the dirty clothing.  They were my big helpers!  Not to mention, if they’re helping me inside, that means they’re not outside getting dirty (insert crafty-mommy-Mwuhahaha!).

 

Who need a washer that agitates when you have big helpers like these?!

 

Wow!  This was after the first wash cycle.  We would rinse it twice after this.

 

3.) Next, I learned that I had NO RIGHT to complain for any hardship I had to go through concerning any minor glitch any washing machine might ever give me again.  Whatever is was, it would probably easier living with it than doing everything by hand.   4.) It is no favor to anyone, least especially myself, to let the laundry pile up.    5.) I had to start washing 1-2 “loads” (i.e. bath tubs full) A DAY.  No less.  And I had to do this consistently, because at the rate of washing by hand, if I got behind, there was NO catching up.

 

When we finally received the repair parts for DW, there was MUCH to celebrate.  These came all the way from the States as there are no repair stores or repair parts available here.    Jonathan and I wrestled DW around ourselves and got it fixed.  But, alas, the bliss did not last long.  Shortly thereafter is when DW picked up the idea that it was the boss and I was not.  I, thankfully, had learned that doing it ALL by hand was WORSE, so I have learned to live with what I have to do and be grateful for it.  Here’s what DW requires:  I turn it on.  It fills and agitates.  It then drains, but does not spin out.  It won’t fill again on its own at the next cycle, so I have to turn it BACK to the beginning, let it fill, then agitate and drain again, without spinning.  As a result, I still have to wring the clothing out most of the time.  Or I let them drip-dry…  But that depends on the season – more to come on that.

 

As for DW’s rather surly attitude, why not call a repair man who can fix this issue?  Unfortunately, that would make things WORSE because washing machines are a new breed of animal around here.  No one knows how to fix them.  They will TELL you that they DO, so you will then let them work on your valuable piece of machinery, but somewhere along the line, something WILL get broken worse than what it was.  It’s just not worth it.  Well, what about Google – there are lots of great fix-it-yourself videos out there.  Yes, that’s true!  One can Google “How to Fix Your Washing Machine” to one’s heart’s content here, and the solution may be miraculously found in a 10-minute YouTube video, but the internet is too slow to watch any video (unless it spools for 2 hours/per 5 video-minutes, and then ooops!  Connection was lost for 1 second, so now it must RESTART the process…. ) ummmm…. just not going to happen any time soon.  Anyhow, what's the use in having a repair man or a great Google-fix if you can't get the parts, anyway?   We have a sneaking suspicion that DW is on it's last legs no matter what TLC we give it.  Too bad there's not a Sears around the corner.  We did find one washing machine for sale in Maradi several months ago.  It was made in China, so who knows how long it would have lasted if we'd purchased it, but the REAL clincher was that we would have done really well to have been able to fit one pair of jeans inside.  Yes, it really was that small - I kid you not.  Just not going to work for this growing family!  Therefore, as far as DW, and what it does or doesn't do, we've decided to just leave well enough alone!

 

One thing that really affects my laundry life here is the time of year.  Let me introduce you to the seasons!  We experience 4 different seasons here in Niger.  The “Cold” Season, the Hot Season, the Rainy Season, and the Mini-Hot Season.  Doesn’t that sound fantastic?!  I have learned that in order to conquer my laundry, I have to use different attack strategies for each season.  This has come by some serious trial and error. 

 

The Cold Season:  This runs from (Dec-Feb) – i.e. Niger’s "perfect weather" season.  Temps run a very dry 70-100 degrees.  It’s very lovely weather.  When I hang laundry on these days, I feel like it’s those perfect summer days when the sun is shining, a breeze is blowing, and the sky is accented with perfect white “Toy Story” clouds.  I have lots of good running water at my disposal, good electricity, and laundry dries in a few hours.  I can get away with not wringing everything out at this time of year.  It is really incredible to hang your dripping laundry out on the line and have it bone-dry several hours later.  Can you say wow?!  I can, and I do, almost every time!  (FYI - We don’t have a dryer – everything has to go on the line.  Dryers do not exist in Niger, at least not to my knowledge.  Possibly because of the 100-120 degree temps that run almost year round…?) 

 

The Hot Season:  (March-June) - i.e. Niger's WORST, hardest season.  The hot season is difficult not just because the daily temperature runs anywhere from a humid  110-120 degrees Fahrenheit outside (95-99 degrees inside), but because all commodities, such as water and electricity, run low at this time of the year.  Water is non-existent during the daylight hours, making things pretty difficult.  We have a 2,000 liter water tank that supplies our house on most days, praise God!  When we have no running water, and we are using our tank's rationed water supply, I can do 1 load of laundry a day.  If I'm conservative in other areas, I might be able to do 2.  On the days that the water is REALLY bad, and the pressure is too low to fill up the tank at night, we have no running water in the house all day.  If I want to get any laundry done, I have to haul water in from outside to fill up the washer.  There may or may not be running (dripping, rather) water outside, so I leave a plastic tote under the facet in hopes that as soon as the town water is turned on, my tote will fill.  We also have large rubber containers that we fill at night when the water comes on.  I can use some of these for laundry, but I have to be conservative because we need to make sure we have enough for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and bathing.  Electricity comes and goes on a regular basis in the hot season (one day, we lost it about 3 dozen times), and when we DO have it, it is often LOW (example: we have a fan turn on high, which on an average good-electricity day would sound like a helicopter it's going so fast.  On a low-electricity day, it will still be on high, but the blades will be swirling lazily around in gentle yawning circles.  Yep.  That's it.  Low electricity.)  Even if I have water there is always a chance I won't have electricity to run DW.  The hot season is my greatest laundry challenge.  Each load is a victory!  Each load is EARNED!  And each load is precious!

 

 

The Rainy Season, where we are now: (June-August) – i.e. Niger’s “a bit cooler, but really humid” season.  The good news about the Rainy Season is that I HAVE WATER!!!  YEAH!!!!!!!  However, the humidity makes drying a drag.  A really drippy drag!  Remember how DW doesn’t spin?  I have to wring out all the clothing really well at this time of year, because if I don’t, they might not dry all day.  And there is NOTHING worse than clothing that has been wet in 100+ degrees all day.  GAG!  (Although, it is possible that the unwashed laundry smell is worse –ha!)  We have to keep an eye out for sudden storms so the precious cargo on the line doesn’t get even wetter if it rains.  All laundry then comes in the house and is spread about wherever possible underneath a fan.  If we’re lucky, it will dry by morning. 

 

The Mini-Hot Season (Sept-Nov):  Still dealing with some humidity, but it’s HOT again, so laundry dries well.  We still have to keep an eye out for the occasional storm, and we may experience water or electricity shortages.  Ultimately, not too many extra challenges here…  At least not that I remember.  Guess I’ll find out if there’s something that I forgot in another couple months.  ;)

 

Washing and drying is just the beginning!  I need help with sorting, folding, ironing, and putting away, too.

 

I have had to come to terms with the fact that this (eh-hem) “friend”, shall we say, of laundry shall always be with me.  There is no complete conquering of it.  The war will never end.  Even if I did conquer it for a day, it would surely be back tomorrow!  And if I give it an inch, it will definitely take a mile.  Therefore, over the past several months I have decided to embrace laundry.  Well, not really, but something has to change lest I go crazy for constantly looking at the mounds of stinky, dirty laundry piling up faster than I could ever keep up with.  I no longer allow the feelings of DESPAIR to crush my heart, soul, and passion for living every time I pass in close proximity of the laundry room… or, rather, the large piles of laundry spilling out FROM the laundry room into the hallway.  The change I implemented was that I now wash AT LEAST one load of laundry a day.  Just one.  That's the minimum.  I can do one.  I have coined a phrase to remind myself why I do this on those days I tempt myself with the idea of skipping today's load:  "A load a day keeps insanity away!"  And it's true!  The first thing I do when I stumble out of my bedroom in the morning is to turn on DW.   On some days, I do two or three loads, but that’s only if there’s enough water and electricity.  I DO take off one day a week as a Sabbath rest, because, if I had to do laundry EVERY day, I might go crazy!  I am happy to say that my load a day policy is paying off splendidly.  It's been months since my laundry room has been overloaded with laundry!

 

I want to change my perspective from feeling irritated that I have “so much laundry” to do “all the time”, to looking at each load of laundry as a gift of service to my family, a way I can show them that I love them. 

 

Note to self:  Enjoy this sight.  It'll only last a day, and then you'll get to wash it all over again! 

 

I am beginning to see the joys that laundry brings me.  Dirty laundry means happy, healthy children who love to play in the dirt.  Dirty laundry means a healthy happy hubby, who is working hard out in the villages, at the Bible School, or around the house.  Dirty diapers mean a happy, healthy baby whose cuddles are well worth any work the diapers take to wash.  The time I spend outside hanging clothing is my time to talk with the Lord, think things through, or spend time with my big helper, Miss Anna Delight.  There are days when I run out and hang the laundry as fast as humanly possible because it’s soooo hot I might get a sunburn in the ten minutes I’m outside.  There are other days when I linger, hanging slowly, breathing in the fragrance of the African air (worth a blog entry all of its own!) and drinking deeply of the beauty of the Sahara sun and sky.  All in all, I’m learning that to everything there is a season, and in every season there is laundry, and as I do my laundry, the Lord can work in me to become more like Him.   

 

 

P.S.  If you ever come here to visit me here in Niger, and I offer to do your laundry, don't you DARE think about this blog entry and politely refuse, hoping to spare me the trouble.  I say this for two reasons:  1.)  Don't rob me of my opportunity to serve and bless you.  It's my gift of hospitality to you.  2.)  If you don't let me, your fragrant offering of worship might just get the better of you!  ;)