• 

  N.Y. Giants honor Weatherford as ‘Man of the Year’

  Dan Tanoos, superintendent of Vigo County schools, remembers the first time he saw Steve Weatherford as a freshman at Terre Haute North Vigo High School.

• 

  Powerball jackpot closing in on another record

  DES MOINES, Iowa — Less than 10 months after three tickets split a world-record lottery prize, the jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing was nearing historic territory once again.

• 

  VIDEO: Two morel mushroom recipes in less than two minutes

  The latest online video in the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife’s CookIN Gone Wild series highlights morel mushrooms — a delicacy in Indiana that many people hunt for every spring.

Liz Ciancone

Search Results

Close Previous Now showing: of Next

Previous Next Close

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable as well as posts that are attacking other users. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus

June 19, 2012

MS. TAKES: Wash day actually lasted an entire day

Liz Ciancone Special to the Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Tue Jun 19, 2012, 05:00 AM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — Hot weather keeps the washing machine whirling, almost daily. I thought the other day about how only Monday once was wash day and what a production it was.

A large copper boiler was filled with soft water and heated to provide hot water for both the washing machine and the hot rinse tub. My memory does not go back to remember pounding clothes on a rock. The cold rinse tub could be filled with water from the tap to which a slosh of bluing was added. Mom explained that bluing helped to eliminate any yellowing in white sheets and towels.

I liked to help feed clothes through the wringer and watch them drop into the tub of hot water. Soon that tub had almost as many suds as the washing machine. Then, another trip through the wringer and a drop into the cold rinse and, finally, the clothes fell into a basket to be carried outside and hung on the clothes line.

Wash day lasted almost literally all day, so we could count on a cold supper or maybe reheated leftovers. All those hours hovering over tubs of hot water didn’t leave a lot of time or energy to create exciting meals.

My Best Friend talks about how his mom and several of the neighbor ladies had a friendly competition to see who among them could be the first to have clean clothes swinging on the clothes line. He said his mom would get up as early as 4 a.m. to get the water heated and begin the day’s ordeal. I can’t imagine she was not the neighborhood favorite in the clothesline sweepstakes. She was a competitor.

The wonderful fresh-air smell of clean clothes coming into the house after a day of swinging on the clothes line in sunshine and fresh air, or maybe freezing in the dead of winter, still lingers. And then there were the sprints to get the clothes in if a sudden shower threatened to dampen everything.

Of course, there was no clothes dryer other than the line in the back yard. Say what you will about dryer sheets, clothes just don’t smell like fresh air.

Tuesday was ironing day. Clothes had to be dampened and touched up with an electric iron — I don’t go back to irons heated on the stove — but now the steam iron is a welcome innovation. Clothes don’t have to be dampened so there is no risk of having them mildew before I get the iron stoked up.

My life is easier than Mom’s, but I do miss that fresh-air smell of clean clothes.



Liz Ciancone is a retired

Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Copyright 2013 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Liz Ciancone

• LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops

  Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?

  May 14, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need

  Washington seems more preoccupied with the unemployment rate than they are about the constant stalemate. Still with thousands out of work and the unemployment rate hovering somewhere between 7 percent and 9 percent, it does deserve more than a passing nod.

  May 7, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Old age is in email of the beholder

  My Best Friend isn’t much for writing letters, so email has opened a new world for him. He can dash off a few words to a high school friend or his college roommate — now living in Florida and Washington State,

  April 30, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: A memory test from the oldtime radio days

  For some reason, I seem to be the go-to source for all sorts of obscure information out at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.

  April 23, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Friskey no doubt was in favor of gun control

  I once owned a gun. Actually, it was Dad’s gun and I was allowed to use it. He bought an air gun which shot BB’s to protect our home — in a way.

  April 16, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: A robin stops to welcome the spring

  I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.

  April 9, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The mystery of the small animal mascot

  I hope you won’t think I’m picking on small animals, but I’ve been thinking about Easter and the Easter bunny.

  April 2, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Rising up to defend the poor groundhog

  I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.

  March 26, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Keeping eye out for signs of spring

  The problem with expecting a groundhog to predict the arrival of spring is that there are groundhogs scattered all over the country. The Pennsylvania groundhog may not see the same kind of weather as the groundhog out here in Dobbs Park. In this way, false hopes are roused and the groundhog loses credibility as a meteorologist.

  March 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose

  It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

  March 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up

  I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”

  March 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Years along rivers make them feel like home

  I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.

  February 19, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: There are always cat stories to be told

  I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”

  February 12, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Sharing the family history

  My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.

  February 5, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Do we want our privacy or not?

  We Americans are a strange bunch. We insist upon our right to privacy, yet we neglect few opportunities to parade our personal business in public.

  January 29, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The low humor of Mickey Mantis

  I’m told that a pun is the lowest form of humor. I guess that typecasts me! I love them, but then, I like any type of word play.

  January 22, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: For now, justice is served in Bball Hall

  News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.

  January 15, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Well, what would you do with only 1 sock?

  Let me ask you something.

  January 8, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Movie memories don’t include many of the lengthy variety

  There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.

  January 1, 2013  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Resist that big ‘let down’ on the day after Christmas

  Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”

  December 25, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet

  I am a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and I need to know how to do it. That’s why I am annoyed when corporate America seems determined to drag me, kicking and screaming into the age of Internet.

  December 18, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday

  I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.

  December 15, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus

  It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.

  December 4, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: The bottom line is what drives ‘Black Friday’ sales

  Why is it called "Black Friday"?

  November 27, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Have we lost the meaning of holiday?

  I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.

  November 20, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Magic is always there with live theater

  I’m a pushover for live theater. But movies? Not so much. For me it’s like the difference between canned peas and those picked fresh from the garden. Movies even COME in cans.

  November 13, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Maybe the Cubs will win it all next year

  I was relieved to have the World Series ending before the snow flies. Heck, it didn’t even last into November this year.

  November 6, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Holiday decorating better when personal, simple

  I fear that I am becoming an old poop!

  October 30, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: Surprises from mail worth the extra penny

  I understand that the cost of pursuing my hobby will be going up by a penny come the year 2013.

  October 23, 2012  

• LIZ CIANCONE: No pet costumes for this Halloween

  Ed and I were old enough to know better, but we got our laughs in a rather cruel way. We caused Lady, the family collie, a lot of chagrin by dressing her up in “people clothes.”

  October 16, 2012  

• More Liz Ciancone Headlines

© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2013. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index

Events by eviesays.com

News From Terre Haute, Indiana 222 S 7th St Terre Haute, IN 47807