From My Mother's Back by Njoki Wane

Author:Njoki Wane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd
Published: 2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

A Moment of Reflection: From My Canadian Kitchen to Kenya

Teaching has been taking a great deal of my time and attention and I have to admit that my housekeeping has gotten a bit out of control. Today, this fine Saturday, I’ve decided to do some serious cleaning, starting with my kitchen.

It’s impossible to keep a kitchen clean for long since, as soon as you’ve cleaned it, it’s time to use it again. Even looking at it right now makes my limbs heavy and my mind long for a book to read instead. Fortunately, laziness was long ago trained out of me by Italian and Irish nuns, cold water pipes, rigorous prayer and rigid structure.

Perhaps I’ll start with the easy part and wash the dishes. As I approach the sink, I can’t help but smile, as the very concept of running water that turns hot or cold at the twist of a handle simply delights me. Kijiji had no such luxuries and as a young girl I would have considered such a thing pure magic. I turn the handle simply to feel the water change temperature without the aid of an open fire or large pot to heat it in.

Even the sponge I hold is a novelty compared to the sisal strings or the sand from the river that we used to wash our pots with. Liquid soap has brought me much entertainment with its foam and the little bubbles that escape and float around each time I squeeze the bottle too fast. I fill one side of the sink with soapy hot water and the other side with cold clear water, practising the hygiene that I learned long ago from my mother. Today, as I stand in front of the sink, I have a choice; I can either put all the dirty dishes in a dishwasher on my right or just use this time to reflect as I clean the utensils. I choose the latter. How strange it is to think that at one time, we would wash our pots in river water drawn from crocodile-infested waters.

I wonder what my children would think if I shared my rural upbringing. Maybe I should. This may teach them not to waste water or resources.

Even my dishes evoke a sharp contrasting memory of steel bowls and cups issued to us at the Sacred Heart Girls School. Each time I use these dishes I appreciate their soft sounds rather than the harsh clang of metal on metal that accompanied many meals in my youth.

Dishes washed and dried, I move to the countertops and start wiping down the surfaces with a soapy sponge. The motion is easy and soothing and so very different from the stone, clay or wooden surfaces that permeated my parents’ house. Next in the cleaning line comes the coffee maker – the latest model, Keurig, where I can press the button and have a fresh cup of coffee or tea. There are also my different models of blenders and a collection of Tupperware that seems to grow every day.

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