Domesticity for the rest of us

[7/27/07 --- Dear John, If you thought I was a slacker at doing laundry in the states, just look at me now: washing my clothes by hand. That’s what pretty much everyone does here; washing machines are only the property of the super rich, supposedly because it costs so much to import them to the island. The professionals rub the soapy water into the clothes with stones. I don’t have stones. So I just mixed my things around in the soapy water to clean them, and then rinsed everything out. I have a whole new level of respect for two-wash cycles. And I kind of like the crinkly feeling you get when you wear clothes right off of the laundry line. I miss you, and your uncanny knack for folding. – John “washboard” Sutter]