October '04 Washday Scents

Aaah, Fall in all its glorious color!  My senses are awakened by the crimsons and the golds, the sounds of the acorns plunking on our deck.  I love to light candles and smell the smells of autumn.  On this particular evening as I sit at my computer the aroma is one of aged liquid manure freshly spread in the field adjacent to our home.  I can feel my nose hairs curling as I type.  Don’t get me wrong, I know everyone has a job to do and a living to earn, and hey, we chose to live out here, didn’t we?  But I swear, todays farms are equipped with a sensor that detects any freshly laundered bedding gently flapping from a backyard clothesline within a 15 mile radius.  Picture a lovely farmyard in the country with chickens, pigs, tractors, etc.  Farmer Bill is tending to some barn upkeep when suddenly it sounds – the shrill cry of the washer alarm.  Lights flash – somewhere out there is a clothesline with sheets and quilts and pillowcases!  Must – go – now      !  Farmer Bill slides down his fireman’s pole (I’m sure he has one, it really adds to the drama), races to the tractor and hitches up the spreader.  He heads out the drive and onto the road spewing stuff all the way.  Topping out at speeds of up to 10 miles per hour his keen senses are searching out that lone clothesline dressed with sweetly smelling linens.  Suddenly there it is – he makes a hard right turn into the field and opens up the spreader thingies, filling the air with his own perfume.  He smiles with satisfaction, his work here is done.  Meanwhile Sally homemaker brings in the bedding, dresses the beds and hands out nose plugs to the family as they retire for the night.  Tomorrow’s another day.  It’s a stinky job but someone has to do it!!