Dirty Dishes

We always try to have our dinner dishes washed and put away before we retire for the evening. Sometimes, however, this is just not do-able. Last night was such an occasion. We both had a long, hard day and were just barely able to crawl into bed after our late dinner.

What this meant, of course, was that we were greeted this morning with a load of dirty dishes to wash.....not really what I wanted to see first thing outta' the chute.

Rather than procrastinate, which is my usual first instinct, I decided to just get it done. Clear the sink. Put dish detergent in the sink. Fill the sink with hot water, creating a soapy, bubbly solution for the soiled plates, dishes, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, etc.

Now, let me pause here to answer my critics who would suggest that I could save myself a lot of trouble by simply loading the stuff into the dishwasher. I don't really see it that way. If you are gonna employ the dishwasher, you first have to wash off the dishes to remove the caked-on grime. Then, the appliance has to be loaded properly. Then, you have to wait while the thingy goes through the soap, wash, rinse and dry cycles. Then, you have to dry off the dishes because I've never yet seen one of the contraptions that actually got everything dry.

Therefore, I find it easier to just wash the darn dishes "a mano", as we say in Texas, dry them, and put them away and be done with it.

But I digress. I start picking up plates to put in the sudsy water and I find that someone who shares a bed with me is not in the habit of rinsing off her dirty dishes when she returns them to the sink after eating. So---her dirty dishes sit on the sink all night, the leftover food bits become dried as we sleep, and by morning her plates and silverware are caked with dried gunk.

Well, I don't want to put that in the dishwater because it will simply begin to make the clean dishwater dirty and unfit for use. So.....I have to take the time to wash her dishes off before submerging them in the soapy water. Of course, I say nothing to her about this, but why can't people just rinse off their plates and bowls and glasses when the stuff will come off easily? Sigh.

Actually, I will admit that the sound of running tap water and the swishing of dishwater tend to calm my senses. Sorta' like a trip to the beach...OK, maybe not quite like that, but you get the idea. It's almost like I'm playing in the water. I catch myself daydreaming as I wash and dry the load. I think about friends and loved ones who have gone on to Glory; good times we've had with friends; funny things that seem to happen to us on a daily basis, etc.

Hey, I guess maybe doin' the dishes isn't such a bad thing after all......