watching the socks spin

The tiny Mississippi town I spent my childhood summers in was so small there was nothing to do but sit in the laundromat and watch the socks spin. I'm not sure Camp Springs, Maryland -- the setting for Countdown -- was any more bustling than that in the early sixties, when I lived there. But Decatur, Georgia bustles right along, and probably has many laundromats. This is the one we chose today.

 Jim did his laundry here for twenty years. I did it for him once, after his dad died, in 2003. It brought back memories of the years I spent in laundromats, entertaining small children through the wash, rinse and spin, and toting the wet clothes home in a sheet so I could dry them on the line -- sunshine was free.

Today Jim and I are married and have a washer and dryer at home, but neither is working right now because of some construction work we've got going in the basement (yes, we're under construction again!) so we tootled back to the old laundromat stand by. It monsoon rained all day long, so we felt a little Robinson Crusoe-like (okay, *I* felt a little R.C.-like), braving the elements to Get Things Done.

Medlock Coin Laundry (bring a LOT of coins) is a bit like the Sunshine Laundry in The Aurora County All-Stars. They'll do your laundry for you, and you can pick it up later, or you can do it yourself. We did it ourselves. We got soaked dashing from the car to the laundromat, and the clothes got another good rinsing as we ran from the laundry to the car. Sheesh.

But now I am ready for Chicago and New York City. Even if you don't see me, you've seen a chunk of my wardrobe. Also, while I'm at it, I think I need one of those wheely cart things. I think we all need one. Very handy.

Sunshine Laundry -
Send us your sheets!
Under new management!
We can't be beat!

Time for sleeping. There's nuthin' like sleeping long and deep when the clothes are clean, the night has come, and the rain thrums hard on the roof, washing the whole sweet earth.