One Deep Breath-Ceremony and Ritual

When I was a child, my mother and grandmother had a weekly ritual for completing all their domestic tasks. My mother used to recite a little poem that explained the basis for much of their work pattern: Wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Bake on Wednesday, Shop on Thursday, Sweep on Friday, Mend on Saturday, Rest on Sunday, and on Monday, start all over again!

There is actual historical basis for this rhyme, which goes like this:

Apparently the women of the Mayflower came ashore on Monday, November 13, 1620 (two days after the men). The first thing they did was wash clothing made filthy from sixty-eight days at sea (yech!). This established an orderly ritual reflected by the following rhyme:

Wash on Monday,Iron on Tuesday,Bake on Wednesday,Brew on Thursday,Churn on Friday,Mend on Saturday,Go to meeting on Sunday. Weren't those Puritan's organized?

I notice that my family's version was a little different, probably because we didn't brew, churn, or "go to meeting!" But, I'm surprised at how much of this ritual I've retained in my housekeeping practices (which are definitely not up to my mother's standards, let alone the Puritans)! So today when I was loading my washing machine, I started composing some haiku around these homemaking rituals.

Monday's wash
line dries in the sun -
wind whipped freshness

Crisp white linen
button-down collars,cuffs linked with gold
elegant man

Sweet fragrant aroma
spices the air with love -
appetites aroused!

Market day riches
fruits, veggies galore
shopping cart brimful of bounty

Stiff whiskered broom
dusty corners swept clean
secret cobwebs disappear

Clothes torn and tattered
beg stitches to mend
nimble fingers deftly fly

Rocking chair waits
Drowsy sleeper lulled gently
into her day of rest

For more haiku, go here