The smell of starched sheets

She wasn't just white. She was truly pure .

They ironed with an iron - a heavy one, with a drip, in the kitchen. They folded corner to corner. They dried not on the radiator, but on a rope, in the sun. Sometimes - in the frost.

And there was this smell… Freshness that no longer exists . The smell of fabric. Water. Air. The smell of something made by hands.

Why did they do this:

— So that the body feels order— So that sleep is “in the house”— So that a guest who lies down on this bed feels that he was expected— So that there is a difference between “anyhow” and “with respect”.

Sometimes between fatigue and strength there was a smooth sheet .

Today, bedding sets are in stores. But where is that rustling? Where is that feeling - to lie down on crisp fabric and understand: you were not pampered - but cared for .