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我的太陽烘衣機

英語學習雜志 2013-02-08 12:41

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在烘衣機壞掉之后,本文作者從大自然中尋找靈感,想到了另一種環保節能的替代方式——用太陽來烘干衣物。這種做法喚起了她兒時的甜蜜回憶,也讓她有了走出戶外、親近自然的機會:溫暖的陽光與可愛的動物……來自于大自然的慷慨饋贈為生活增添了一抹亮彩。

我的太陽烘衣機

 

By Susan L. Fenton

李薇 選注

Only after the straight-talking Maytag repairman handed me the bill and waved goodbye – for the third time in six months – did I finally acknowledge the painful truth: Our 20-year-old clothes dryer was irrevocably busted.

I turned to my husband. "He says we're throwing good money after bad," I sighed. "I think he's right."

"I'm going to miss that guy," said my spouse, the joker. "When do you want to go shopping for a new one?"

"Let me think about it."

I glanced out the window, appreciating the sunlight dancing on the big-leaf maples in our backyard.Perfect drying weather. Suddenly, I recalled my mother hanging laundry on the patio clothesline during my childhood. My giggling sister and I had played hide-and-seek among the sweet-smelling sheets flapping in the wind.

I had a plan.

"You know, we have all the elements of a dryer right in the backyard: plenty of warmth; clean, fresh air; and lots of branches to hang clothes on," I said.

"And it would help with the skyrocketing electric bill," noted the pragmatist in our family. "You're onto something."

And so it began: After the wash cycle, we festooned the maples with damp blue jeans, shirts, socks, and towels. The only things that didn't go outside were feminine unmentionables . And I persuaded my shameless husband to let his big boxer shorts stay indoors, too.

There is a secret pleasure in hanging laundry outdoors. It is the perfect excuse to get up from the computer. While checking on the laundry in the backyard, I could commune not only with cotton T-shirts, but also my cats nestled in deck chairs, licking their sun-warmed fur. I could watch cautious does amble through the yard with their fawns, listen to fretting squirrels in trees, observe a family of wild turkeys by the road. I'd return to my desk refreshed .

And, except for the sandpaper texture of sun-dried bath towels, the drying method was a complete success. But as autumn emerged, I'd scan the horizon to evaluate the day's drying potential. One morning I saw rain clouds ready to burst . I had a load of wet clothes in my arms and no place to put them.

I corralled my husband. Together we hung laundry throughout the house.

Then my husband gave me a hug and a smile. "I think it's time to buy a dryer," he said. "Like today."

"Good idea," I said, just as the infamous Oregon rain started in earnest.

Our home-based sun-dried laundry venture was closed for the season.

Vocabulary

1. 只有在美泰克公司那位直言直語的維修員遞給我(修理費)賬單并揮手道別之后(這已經是六個月以來的第三次了),我才終于承認了一個痛苦的事實:我們這臺20年的烘衣機已不可挽回地損壞了。Maytag: 美國美泰克公司,系美國四大家電生產公司之一,生產包括洗衣機、烘衣機、洗碗機、電冰箱與吸塵器等眾多家用電器產品;irrevocably: 不可挽回地;busted:〈口〉損壞了的。

2. spouse: 配偶。

3. maple: 楓樹,槭樹。

4. recall: 回想起,回憶起;laundry: 已洗好的衣物;patio clothesline: 庭院露臺的曬衣繩。

5. 我與咯咯歡笑的妹妹在香噴噴的、隨風起舞的被單中玩著捉迷藏的游戲。giggling: 咯咯笑的;flap: 飄動,拍動。

6. skyrocketing: 猛漲的;pragmatist: 實用主義者。

7. festoon: 像花彩般懸掛于;damp: 潮濕的。

8. feminine unmentionables: 女性內衣,此為委婉說法。常用復數。

9. boxer shorts: 拳擊褲,腰間有松緊帶的男用寬松內褲。

10. commune with: (感情上)融為一體;nestle: 安臥,偎依;deck chair: (戶外用的)折疊帆布躺椅。

11. 我能看見謹慎的母鹿帶著它們的小鹿悠閑地漫步穿過庭院,能聽到樹間松鼠煩躁不安的聲音,還能觀察到路邊的野火雞一家。doe: 雌鹿;amble: 輕松地走,從容漫步;fawn: (未滿一歲的)幼鹿。

12. refreshed: 恢復活力的,振作精神的。

13. sandpaper texture: (織物的)質地粗糙的。

14. 但當秋天來臨之時,我就得仔細察看天際,以估計一下當天烘干衣服的可能性。

15. burst: 脹裂,綻開。

16. corral: 〈主美〉召集,把……集合在一起。

17. infamous: 聲名狼藉的,臭名昭著的;Oregon: 俄勒岡州,是美國西北部臨太平洋的州;in earnest: 堅定地。

18. venture: 冒險行動,投機活動。

(來源:英語學習雜志 編輯:丹妮)

 

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