And Then Their Was Laundry

The Amish put us to shame when it comes to doing laundry.  Their clothes still hang outside on the line.  The farmhouse's second story window has a 100 plus foot rope clothes line.  It stretches all the way from the house on a pulley attached to the top of the barn's gable across the farmyard.  It is easy to see what day they do the washing.

 

As a girl we hung our wet laundry outside on a wire clothesline year round. When the snow was as high as an elephant's eye the pieces quickly froze. On windy days the wooden clothes pins, struggled to hold the wildy, whipping sheets and towels. The hot summer sun dried them in an instant.

After dryers became the norm, Mom wouldn't waste money on a perfectly good clothes line drying day. Eventually the electric or gas dryer won the battle. With help from the cities restrictive covenants, clotheslines became history.

Hurray to the Amish for keeping the tradition alive.

Crane Traits

I'm sure we all carry a little of our ancestors in our day to day actions, likes, and habits.  Here are a few I have that I equate to the Crane/Park lines:

I wiggle my toes - I always get little holes in my socks and shoes from wiggling my big toe. i used to wear toe socks, but stopped when I realized I was wearing out the big toe after just a few times of wearing them. I remember Grandma Crane constantly flexing her feet as she would be sitting down. I don't know if it cause he shoes to wear out faster or not.

I talk to myself - As far as I'm concerned this is normal and everyone does it, but my husband thinks I'm weird.  Grandma Crane did this, my mom does this, my sister does it and so do I, maybe its a girl thing.

I sleep through movies - The movie goes on and my body shuts down.  I remember Elaine talking about going to visit Jim's family.  They would ALL be around the TV with their eyes closed.  My mom is AWESOME as watching TV/movies with her eyes closed.  I fall asleep in just about any action movie. It is like the action is too much for my mind so it just shuts down.

I love peanut butter - I'm not sure where this stems from exactly, but I'm rather addicted it peanut butter.  At Camille and Audrey's wedding showers on Friday we got on the subject of peanut butter, and it seemed like there were many people that just LOVED peanut butter.  Earlier this year I was trying to limit my calorie intake, but couldn't give up my PB sandwich so I just starting eating half sandwiches.

I love to garden - I remember Grandma having an awesome garden.  I know my neighbor, Mike Park, also a Park descendant,  also has an awesome garden as do many of my aunts & uncles.  I guess for me this skipped a generation, or maybe it was the Magna soil that spoiled any attempt my mom made.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can think of right now.  What traits do you have?