Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska

Wanda's Diary Entries

Sunday, October 19, 2009

In Warsaw, line-drying is the order of the day — at least in the circles in which I travel, which granted, are not yet large. This is a positive to my way of thinking. While most every townhouse or apartment that I’ve visited here is now equipped with an automatic washing machine (I have yet to lay eyes on a public, American-style laundromat), Poles seem to hold the line when it comes to clothes dryers.

My cousin Monika, who lives with her dog and an occasional roomer in a one-bedroom apartment close to the center of the city, dries her clothes on a free-standing rack in the hallway, which is taken down and tucked away when not in use. Pani Malgosia, in whose townhouse we’re now staying, is more comfortably fixed, with clothes lines affixed to the ceiling in her basement.

I thoroughly approve. Line-drying saves energy and extends the life of your garments. On Saturday, I did three small loads of laundry here, then hung them up to dry, just as I used to a hundred years ago as a high school student in Maine. Just an hour ago (Sunday evening), Henry and I took turns folding our dried garments and putting them away. Yes, the fabric can feel a little crinkly to the touch at first, but I’m convinced that hand-tending our things provides a greater connection to them, makes us care more for each item.

Another change for me here is that for the first time in two and a half decades, I do not have access to a printer. If I receive an especially meaningful email, I have two choices: I can save it to another file, or I can jot down key phrases onto a notepad. In fact, I just wrote and filed my first article from Warsaw without benefit of printer. My office equipment consists of my laptop and papers spread on the ample desk Pani Malgosia provided. From where I sit, I can open my wide, energy-efficient, low-e windows and reach out to pick a grape, but can’t print out my prose. No matter. The net impact here is an greater diligence in saving my work to my thumb drive and the prevention of generating a mound of paper. I will admit that I have spotted a photocopy shop en route to the Metro. So if I have to, I can still print. Now I’m challenging myself to see how long I can go without using it. So here I am in Warsaw, saving trees and saving energy, living the simple life, on less.