(Catching Up) Washing Dishes

(A post from yesterday that was delayed by an evening of unexpected socializing)

Each full day I've been here, I've paid a bit of my "rent" by doing the dishes. It's strange, but I kinda like it.

There's no dishwasher here, so everything has to be done by hand. It's a blessing and a curse that A+H have few dishes; there is never more than a small sinkful and things don't get a chance to encrust, but they need to be done every day. But, as I said, I don't mind.

The first day I did dishes, I set my mp3 player to shuffle and attacked the chore full tilt. I can't even remember what I was listening to, but it made things go quickly as I lived in my ears while scrubbing dishes, tidying up counters, and wiping the stove clean.

The second day, the house was empty (except for dogs) and I didn't take my mp3 player. Instead I chased myself through circles in my mind and enjoyed the view out the window into the cold and sunny backyard. Dipping my hands in the hot water was a nice change from the nippiness of the weather here. (To be honest, it's often below freezing and I didn't come quite prepared for being outside in these conditions.)

The third day I did dishes Hannah was in the room working on book binding, but I had my headphones on. After I finished, I apologized for the (mild) racket (dishes colliding as I dropped them, or forced them into the tiny drying rack) as I left the room. Hannah just laughed, saying that a clean kitchen is worth any racket.

Although that first day I ran into the problem of not wanting to cook in a dirty kitchen because it's more enjoyable to work in a clean space... but once the effort has been made to clean the kitchen, I don't want to cook because doing so would cause things to be messy again.


Overall I feel like I'm integrating well into life here... at least as well as can be said for only being on the fourth day of my trip. (Donut of Misery says I am 5% done with my stay, and 4% done with my time away from Reagan.)

Integrating may be a strange word for the situation, but I'm somewhere between guest and tenant. I have autonomy (no obligation for them to keep me entertained or for me to always be hanging out), and yet I am invited along for errands, calling on friends, and to break bread. It's very comfortable for me, although not similar to any situation in my past.

I want (and try) to be a good house-citizen. Besides doing the dishes gladly, I want to be on good, easy terms with the people and dogs and avoid anything like the "stucco tower" feeling I had in Upland. Keeping the door to my room open and spending time in other parts of the house goes a long way to help this cause.

But tonight will have temperatures in the single digits (Fahrenheit), and the room I'm staying in is the warmest in the house. Selfishly (perhaps), I'm spending a lot of the cold days in my room with the door closed to preserve warmth.

Luckily most of my painting will be done on the flat, open, well-lit surface of the kitchen table.