doing the laundry is a wonderful thing

Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek, created wonderful characters in this book. My mother in law gave it to me a couple of weeks ago and I just picked it up over the weekend, but I’ve not been able to put it down. Morgan weaves a tale of a young couple struggling at the turn of the century to live. They are both mountain folk who don’t come from much, but the wife is extremely resourceful. At a young age (I believe she is only 17 or 18) she is able to learn how to manage a household and a husband. She has to learn to be his rock (without him knowing it) and at the same time, she is struggling to come into what it means to be a woman.
At one point in the book she talks about why she likes washing clothes. I love this part so much, because it resonates with something I’ve felt for such a long time, but just haven’t been able to put into words:

There is something chemical about the heat of washing, like the fire burns away filth and the soap turns the dirt into something clean. The bitter sopa melts grease and soil. The slick soap eats away filth and oily stains. Much as you hate it, doing washing makes you feel you're starting out new. You have put your face in the smoke and steam, and your hands in the dirty slick water. And then you lift the pieces out and rinse them in fresh water and wring them out in the wind. (61)

***Now, I'm not washing clothes by hand like they did back then, but for some reason, I still feel this way. Washing clothes, going to the laundry makes me feel good. Like I'm really getting something done, starting new. Its like a bapitism.