"Once begun is half done." I've always been a fan of Mary Poppins. I like musicals in general, but Mary Poppins has always been a favorite. But I don't know that I've ever really appreciated this particular truism until today. I guess I kinda knew it was true, but still...
One of the things I remember pretty distinctly from my childhood is hanging laundry out to dry on the clothesline at my mom's. She had this window that opened from the back porch, and the clothes line was strung from the porch to a tree. Each summer, we'd hang laundry out to dry in the semi-sun. I loved pulling the laundry in (I'm not sure I liked putting it out very much, though). The wheels would squeak in the pulley; I'd take the clothespins off the sheets and shirts as they'd fly towards the window. I like that memory.
I have a clothes pole in my backyard. Not a line, per se, and it doesn't have a pulley with squeaky wheels. But in my quest to save a bit of money, I bought some clothespins a week ago, and I've been intending to hang some laundry out to dry--particularly the cloth diapers we have to wash every 3-5 days.
I've been procrastinating. I mean, I always have a great reason not to: sometimes I can't wait for the clothes to dry on the line. Sometimes it's dark. The line on the pole needs to be cleaned. Sometimes I just don't want to walk out to the backyard.
This morning I woke up to a beautiful morning. I got the diapers out of the washing machine and thought that I'd give the line a try. I juggled laundry baskets, took the diapers outside, cleaned off the clothesline, and tried out my new clothespins.
"Once begun is half done." So true: the laundry is in progress, chicken is brining, dishes are done, meat is cooked for Thursday's lasagna. The sun is out, my baby is down for her nap, and my clothes pole is finally in use.
