Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Ironing

  
"If she wasn't having a baby on Tuesday, my mother ironed.  She had three flatirons, which she heated on top of her kitchen range and which she lifted with a detachable handle.  She changed irons about every ten minutes as they cooled off.  When I awakened on Tuesday morning, I could hear my mother ironing.  The handle sqeaked as it was pushed against the flatiron moving across the ironing board."
(Nothing to Do but Stay: My Pioneer Mother, by Carrie Young, pp.42-43 [Iowa City, 1991])

3 comments:

Rebecca said...

Oh, dear. My ironing pile is so big. I need to be thankful I'm not using a flatiron and get on it!

Jodi said...

Nothing to Do but Stay is a book I've been longing to read. I love the smell of ironing, but I don't like to iron. My husband, however, LOVES to iron. He finds it relaxing. I'm a lucky girl. :)

Mia said...

How lovely, this quote was so descriptive! I felt like I was in the room myself, witnessing the quiet scene :)