My own two hands (and a sore back)

Something stirs in the soul when confronted with the reality of scrubbing clothes with your own two hands.
It's difficult to take things for granted when doing the same job a machine has done for me since - was 12 years old. But there is was, scrubbing & plunging, plungimg & scrubbing each article of clothing for a sum total of much, much longer than any wash cycle.
Even in Indonesia I had a washing machine, but not here, not anymore.
And to be honest it was kind of fun - briefly exhilarating, even - to know thay I had the power and ability to do the job.
Except, really, I didn't. Without Violet & Jerry to help me the job would've taken 3 hours, not one. And the clothes would probably still be a little dirty, or unrinsed, or not wrung out enough to finish drying on the line in a reasoable amount of time.
All of which tells me that: 1) I can't do this alone, and I'm glad I'm not, so I'm thankful for all my friends here and all the friends I miss for their genuine love & support I can feel and see. 2) knowing how to do the job by hand is a necessary, humbling, and motivating challenge/experience.