Clean Laundry

One of my least favorite things to do is folding and putting away a wrinkled clump of clean laundry. I usually try to fold the clothes as soon as they come out of the dryer, that way if they stay in the basket for a few days or a week, they still look good. Lately I've been so busy that I have been dumping load after clean load of laundry into the basket in front of the dryer until the pile is so big I can hardly see over it as I carry it up the stairs.
Tonight the TV is supposed to distract me while I make neat piles of shirts and pants, but all I can think about is the mound of dirty laundry still waiting for me in the basement.
Not all days are like this. A good day is when I have no clean clothes strewn like small mountains in my bedroom. An exquisite day is when not only are there no clean clothes to put away, but there are no more dirty clothes to wash either. On those glistening, pristine days I go back to the hamper in the hall closet again and again. Opening the door, I let my gaze float over the white expanse of the empty laundry basket, the thrill of order making the skin on my arms tingle.