Friday, July 16, 2010

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

105*. That is how hot it is right now. I’m melting. Or at least it feels like it.

I had a pap today as part of the follow-up pap every three months that I am supposed to get. I will get the results of that whenever.

I asked about the shelter while there and they are not surprised, but still saddened by the lack of response. I asked if there was a state 800 number to call. I was given two numbers. One is now a pre-recorded used vehicle message directing the caller to a website. The other has been disconnected.

In mentioning this to R, she said “Let me tell you about this area. We take care of our own. The times I have heard of a mad beating his wife, other guys will come along and the abuser usually ends up finding himself in the hospital.” Ok. That works for me. Women still need a safe place to go, but I can eagerly support “educational adjustment” of abusive men. She also mentioned (in response to the flip side of small town living of people supporting the abuser and shunning the abused woman) the one case of a “well respected” individual in the community who was abusing his girl friend. She ended up shooting him in the chest. They got married a year later.

I stopped by the county health department which also doubles at the WIC office to give them my information. I had a wonderful conversation with the woman there and told her a bit about me and the fact that I moved here from Indiana. She asked if I was restricted to Ozark County or if I was willing to drive. I smiled and told her that just because my voicemail says “Ozark County” I am not going to turn down helping a mom just because she lives in another county.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

While I may have been productive yesterday outside the home, here I was less than productive. I had to do dishes this morning before breakfast could be had. All seven bowls were dirty. Laundry also never got done yesterday so we will be doing a whole lot of laundry today. Due to water and financial concerns, we will be going down to the lake to do the laundry. The children get to learn how families in other countries do laundry. Yes, even in the 21st century, there are still people in this world who do laundry in the lake or in the river or whatever body of water is near them. I will also use the opportunity to discuss with them how things like that are done and used to be done in this country.

Up stream dishes were done. Next down the stream, laundry was done. Next area down was bathing. Bathroom usage was away from there and outhouses were not placed near the water.

The whys of all of this will be explained as well. How just because people might not have modern conveniences or choose to live a “backwards” life or a country might be poor, that does not mean they don’t have common sense or are stupid. There is a valid health and sanitary reason for this.

Today is going to be another very hot day. It is a little after nine and I am already dripping in sweat and am actually looking forward to going swimming. Err. I mean doing laundry.

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Laundry is done. More line needs to be put up so I can hang it all. Two overflowing two-bushel sized baskets are done. The children had a blast. They splashed and played and even tried being helpful at times. At one point, Hannah came up behind me and grabbed the bottom of my skirt that I was wearing and splashed it in and out of the water like she was washing it.

To do the laundry, I took our two 40 quart stock pots so I could have a wash and a rinse spot. I had to go out past where the children were playing so I wouldn’t get the stirred up clay sediment from the bottom of the lake in the clothes. I had to change the water several times. While it was more labor intensive, I didn’t have to worry about water here being used or money and gas being used to go to the laundromat. Being on water rations for use beyond us and the animals drinking until we get our truck back makes for being inventive. Dishes still get done, but I am careful with the amount of water used. Same thing with cooking.

I can see us using the lake more often. Especially in this heat. The water was warm, the children had fun, and with the breeze, we all got to cool off while getting work done. It was nice.

Things we will do different:
Place a large rock in the bottom of each pot. As boats went by, the wake coming in on the shore caused the pots to go floating and tipping.

NOT dump a laundry basket full of clothes directly into the lake. While it might be fun for the children doing a “prewash” it created more work for me having to wash out the clay. Not to mention the whole “Go get that sock that is floating away” bit.

Placing the baskets in the stock pots for the trip home worked very well. As the water dripped from the clothes through the basket, it went directly into the stock pot and kept it from getting all over the floor of the van.

I am pleased with how clean the clothes came. There are a couple of things that I am not happy with in terms of cleanliness, but that happens when your eight year old son wears white pants and rolls around in the mud. Overall, it took the same amount of time to do the laundry this way as it would have to use the machines at the laundromat and they came out just as clean. And, it was more fun for the children. And a lot cooler. (The laundromat is not air conditioned.)

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