Deep Hankerings of the Rural Sort

I think I was born a bit too late.

I hanker so for a simple, quiet country life.

I'm really making strides in accomplishing that, but there's still too much 'noise' in my life.

I just want to wear dresses and aprons.

I want to tie my unruly hair up in kerchiefs and wear clunky shoes from the 1940's.

I want 'town' to be very far away.

As in a day's journey.

Did you ever hanker for something so badly it made your stomach hurt?

Some of my followers may recall my cow hankerings.

You can read about that here.

I still hanker for a cow - so much that I can smell it.

The kinship I'd form with that said cow would be unbreakable.

I want to depend on myself for food, clothing and shelter.

Except for coffee - I mean, let's not get carried away.

I'd grow my own coffee beans if I could.

I want to own a barn like this.

I want to hear the wood creak in the wind, and the windows rattle in a storm.

I want to herd the chickens and cow safely into the barn when the sky gets dark.

I want to hear my cow, Esmerelda would be her name, lowing quietly whilst I milked her.

All that said, this is my latest deep hankering.

A washtub and a wringer.

I love laundry day.

I love hanging my clothes on the line.

Time seems to stop.

I feel self sufficient.

I shake my fist and laugh at the electric company, and the gas company.

Take this Northern Indiana Public Service Company!

There's something delicious about using your own homemade laundry soap and vinegar to wash your clothes. I mean, besides your towels exfoliating your skin when you dry yourself.

You feel (at least I do) liberated.

Liberated from consumerism.

Liberated from depending on others.

Whole.

Is that a bit dramatic? Feeling whole and liberated on laundry day?

I think not.

I'm sure that my great grandmother felt liberated the day she went 'on the grid', I'm sure she was thrilled to have running water and new-fangled appliances. But like so many things, we take a good thing and run it right in the ground.

I don't feel liberated.

I feel enslaved to electric bills, heating bills, and a high tab at the Piggly Wiggly.

How do I check out?

One small decision at a time.

Here's a small decision you can make today.

Make your own laundry soap.

I've tried a few 'recipes' and this is my favorite.

I like it because it's a liquid, and it only makes a few gallons at a time.

I don't like the idea of a 5 gallon bucket of laundry soap - I'm not the Octomom after all.

This recipe will make 2 gallons. It seems more manageable.

I make it in my empty cat litter jugs.

Just promise me this, if you would - when you make it, shake your

fist at the sky and holler

"Take THIS Proctor and Gamble!"