Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

The Year of Things Breaking

This had to be the year of things breaking around my house. I can’t exactly put a beginning date on the breakage trend, but I am guessing it had to have commenced around the time of the hurricanes, September that is, when most anything in our town and some structures around our house first broke apart. Although that fracturing was caused by the winds, the pattern has been continuing ever since.

After the two hurricanes’ damage to the house, next thing to go was my laptop, leaving me to bicker with a totally useless computer support service, making me to give up and share my husband’s computer for a while until I got a new computer a couple of weeks ago. I have to say this one hurt the most, because I couldn’t frolic around writing.com as I used to do. Also, sometime around November, other things started falling apart: the photocopy machine, the printer, a vacuum cleaner, a car, a radio, message machine, a telephone, vcr, two cameras, cups, plates, dishwasher, etc.

This writing is taking place, because I thought about these things a few minutes ago while washing the dishes by hand and rather enjoying myself, believe it or not. I thought that if it weren’t for my machine-dependence, I would have had a calmer life. There is some delight in watching the dishwashing detergent’s bubbles wash off the whites of the plates and leave the glasses crystal clear. The sparkling yellow dishwashing detergent is in a plastic bottle with the label “Joy,” which makes it more mine than anything else in the kitchen. Then, of course, washing the dishes by hand is an immediate job, which eliminates emptying the dishwasher. For two days now, I’m home waiting for the new dishwasher’s delivery, which was promised for yesterday, but one should never trust any words at the time of the sale of anything.

On average, my husband and I are not breakers; usually, we don’t break or drop things but these last few months have been something else. Maybe we are still living under the shadow of the September winds’ curse. Maybe those winds are still trying to tell me something. Something like “Watch out for your dryer. Hear its awful noise. Did you notice you have to put the wash in for double cycle to get it only partially dry?”

Oh well, this too shall pass!