The view outside my sorta kitchen sink window. My sink is in the corner of the counter looking at the backsplash!
Most days I spend a lot of time at my kitchen sink. Before leaving the house I always make sure the morning dishes are clean. Depending on what I bake or cook throughout the day, there are more dishes to be done in the afternoon. And then of course those after supper dishes.
I have a dish washer. I have only ever used it twice. The act of doing dishes--running the water to hot, filling the sink with hot water & soap suds, the act of taking the dirty dishes, scrubbing them clean and placing them to dry--I find very soothing. Many time as I go through the familiar motions my mind wanders. I think of my to-do list. Or what to cook next. Or the worries I have. I find I often pray while I am doing the dishes. And then there are other times I don't think of much at all.
I find the act of washing dishes to be a symbol of the service I do for my family. Because there are dirty dishes--I have cooked food for them. They have eaten that food. I am now washing the plates & silverware & glasses & pan that held the food I prepared to nourish those I love. Thanks to the dirty dishes they have full bellies. Doing the dishes reminds me that I am taking care of my family in the most fundamental way--by providing food.
And when they are all clean, piled sparkling on the dish dryer, more times then not I get a feeling of deep satisfaction. Another meal has been prepared, cooked, consumed and cleaned up.
Weaving words with the Write ALM prompts for March.
We have a dish washer and only use it when the kids are home. I find when it is just the two of us, I like to do the dishes and have everything in the cupboards when they are dried up. Lovely view and I think a kitchen sink must have a view!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful words Jen. I don't have a dishwasher so I have always washed dishes by hand. Truthfully it is a task I enjoy, a time to be alone with my thoughts and to day dream.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of the dishwasher either. I haven't used it in well over a year. Neither me or my husband seems to have the ability to let dirty dishes sit--I, too, won't leave the house with dirty dishes in the sink, and they get washed promptly after meals. Often my husband does the dinner dishes, but usually we are both in the kitchen, and it's a few moments to catch up with each other while the kids begin getting ready for bed.
ReplyDeleteI remember my grandmother telling me how she and my grandfather did dishes together. They never had a dishwasher. One would wash, the other would dry, and they'd talk about their day. This seems to me like a very good thing, and while I wouldn't give up my washer and dryer, there is just something about doing dishes that is absolutely okay.
i don't have a dishwasher so dishes are washed by hand. all day because we are home all day, every day. but i love it, i love drying as mister washes. or washing while one of the kids dries. it's a nice way to connect.
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