Day 2 - March 31

Last night was the first night of the Omer. Today was the first day of the Omer. Tonight, I just started my first load of post-chag laundry.

During the Chag (holiday days on which we don't do work including both business and heavy housework) beginning Passover from Monday evening to Wednesday evening this year, we accumulated the regular amount of dirty clothes. However, our washing machine broke the previous Thursday so we already had a back up. That's an understatement unless you know how we live here. With only 1900 square feet all on one level and seven people including four children who go through at least 2 sets of clothes each day (and including my father who is temporarily living with us) we have piles and piles of clothes, linens and towels from the past 12 days. In the hallway outside our bedroom, all over our bedroom floor, and the more recent pieces in various spots in the girls' room. What may have been in a basket or pile inevitably got turned over and thrown about by my little ones. The cavalier and idiotic repair guy who first came out on Friday afternoon and misdiagnosed the problem felt the necessity to tell me that its not an emergency. Really, the importance of the appliance is not for him to judge! While I would not want to cry emergency when no one is injured or in danger, in our household having a working washing machine is crucial and repairing it is an urgent need. With Shabbat about to start we were stuck living in our piles of dirty laundry. And Monday when the second repair guy came with the part (that the first guy said was the culprit) to fix it and determined that it wasn't fixable it the first Seder was hours away and once again we were stuck with our growing mounds and floor coverings.

So tonight I'm counting loads of laundry. I folded the first load from the dryer and just put in the second load in the wash and the second load in the dryer. Tonight is the second night of the Omer.

Counting is a funny thing. This laundry explosion is so huge that it seems helpful to count loads to make sense of it all. When I can tell you that I did 10 loads of laundry in one night, you'll understand how dire and crazy this scene is. And I will be able to be clear about the problem and how I cleared it up. It wraps up the whole thing. One. Two. For now. But I'll keep going. For how long I'll keep going I can't predict.

There is something fun about counting, a la Sesame Street's The Count. And there is something existentially significant about counting too. My dad is sick and I don't know for how many months I'll be caring for him until he is well enough to resume his life. My friend's father just yesterday was diagnosed with a terminal illness and she will be counting her remaining days with her father. My father-in-law had been waiting for a kidney for a year and the day he could stop counting was the day he received the gift of his kidney transplant. That same day was the day that the family of a 38 year old woman stopped counting her days.

For each of us there is something we are counting today, this year, this season. There may be a life and death situation. There may be the quest to become a parent. There may be a wedding approaching. Maybe for you there is a career transition, a financial crisis to endure, a relationship to grieve, a health goal to achieve or a spiritual growth in process. Maybe for you it is all of these or none of these.

I'm not yet sure what the theme of my personal Omer counting will be this year. It might change each day. My intention is to write each night and dedicate my writing to counting the forty-nine days between Passover and Shavout. Will I see a pattern of emerging from slavery to freedom? Will I discover the point of my current spiritual wanderings and emotional challenges? Will the end of my counting bring a sense of closure or feeling of achievement? The answers to these questions as always are unknown at the beginning of the journey. I invite you to count these days with me and to dedicate and recount your own counting intentions with daily writing. If you would like to share your writing with me and this online Omer Counting Writing Group, I would be honored to read your thoughts. I am equally honored in your interest to read my musings as well.

Tonight is the second night of the Omer. The second load of laundry is still going.


What are you counting today? What have you been counting lately? What you expect to be counting in the next 7 weeks?