The Briar Philosopher - Makin Do

Well, it finally stopped raining and the Boy and I got a chance to catch up on some of the outside work the rains had prevented us from doing for weeks and weeks. It felt good to be outside doing things, even on Sunday when the temperature climbed into the 90s with a heat index over 100 thanks to the humidity. I swear, you could have cut the air with a knife, even a dull one. We survived it and were glad to be able to look back and see the work we had done. This week still promises to melt us, but this too shall pass. I worry about those out there who don’t have air conditioning and who might have a condition or circumstance that weakens their ability to fight the heat. We, ourselves, are without air conditioning at the moment. The old system just gave out. We will get someone to come look at it but it’s so old I doubt parts will be available. But we grew up without air conditioning, so we’re pretty sure we’ll make it until we find an alternative. Of course, just because we’re more able to adapt doesn’t mean we aren’t feeling the heat. It is terribly hot here but it cools down in the night to something livable. 

As a result of the heat it became obvious that we shouldn’t be running a dryer, even though, because of our dog’s injury, there have been a lot of towels to wash. It just adds too much heat to the house. We got around that by installing one of those solar dryers. It wasn’t very expensive and doesn’t cost anything to operate except a few bits of wood and some time. Of course I’m talking about a clothes line. Everyone had one when I was growing up, and I’d always had one myself up until I moved to Florida. Personally, I prefer them to dryers. I won’t dry jeans or socks on the line if I can help it because they get so stiff. I can’t abide stiff jeans or socks. But everything else goes up there. I will admit that it gave me some sense of home to walk out and put towels and sheets on the line. I especially love T-shirts that are line-dried. They actually get softer. Well, the cotton ones do, and I can’t speak for any other kind. Never could wear blends. If it’s not natural fiber, I cook and itch all over. 

There’s just something about the simplicity of hanging out clothes to dry that soothes my soul, even in the heat. I expect with everything going up, including utilities, there will be others who fall back on that old faithful way of drying clothes. Even those with working central air units are reporting having trouble keeping their units from freezing up in this heat and humidity. There may be other things that make a comeback if we continue to get summers like this. Such things as summer kitchens and outside canning stands, big gardens and the planting of more trees for shade. I, for one, would welcome the comeback of all of these things. It’s certainly too hot to cook much in the house, and baking is pretty much out of the question. We’ve been relying on the grill and a couple of deep fryers that don’t put out excessive heat. But a summer kitchen would be nice, out under the shade of the oak tree. 

I do enjoy the modern conveniences. I wouldn’t want to go back to bathing in a galvanized tub outside or trying to get clean by washing off in a pan. A cool shower has been a saving grace the last few days. I also appreciate air conditioning, to a degree. I have found that,  before it got this blistering hot, I preferred the window fan at night. The fresh air did me good. It still gets cool enough during the night that the window fan makes a big difference, but we will certainly need at least a portable air conditioner for the Boy’s brother. 

Growing up, when you would ask someone how they were doing, they would often answer, “makin’ do.” We learned early that the idiom, “make it do or do without,” was a general rule, rather than an exception. You find ways to make things work if you can’t afford to go buy something brand new. You figure out how to make do with what you have.  I actually think that mindset could also make a comeback. We, as a culture, are swimming in things we don’t need. Landfills are piled high with things somebody wanted, or thought they wanted, months before. Storage units are packed full of things we don’t have room for but don’t want to part with. Our consumer mentality is costing us in more ways than the money we spend. We have become a throw-away society, and I think that has influenced much more than shopping. A relationship gets a little hard, toss it. A friend doesn’t meet your immediate needs, toss ‘em. One person at your church annoys you, toss the lot. We have reached a point where I think that it’s hard to satisfy us in any way. We’re sure the next thing to come along will be better, and if it isn’t, maybe the next thing will be. And so on, and so on, and so on. It might be better in every way if we could relearn that “make it do” mentality and at least work toward finding a way to make things do. We really don’t need most of the stuff we surround ourselves with. We might want it momentarily, but do we really need it? And when it comes to relationships, do we really need the next shiny thing, or should we find a way to make the solid, consistent, reliable thing work? I’m a big fan of the latter. I’m also a big fan of big fans these days, but that’s another matter. 

Stay cool, y’all, and please check on your neighbors. This truly is a dangerous time to be out in the heat.