I am amazed with classical music, which is constructed with complicated chord structures and orchestral arrangements. With classical and orchestral jazz music, multiple musicians read a music score while playing a variety of instruments simultaneously, turning organized chaos into music that is pleasurable to perceive. I am also amazed at paintings that a person made with their vision through their hands and with instruments, such as a paint brush. I am amazed by works of art.
    Why am I not amazed at creative inventions such as the electric washing machine? Whomever invented the washing machine was a creative genius. The inventor conceptualized the washing machine, made plans, or drawings, then figured out how the machine could work with electric current. When a washing machine is plugged into a wall socket, the electricity runs through the electrical chord, brings power into the mechanism, making the machine fill up with water, oscillate, rinse, and empty the soapy water, thus removing dirt from the laundry. The washing machine takes dirty laundry and transforms it into clean clothing, linens, etc. The washing machine is amazing. Yet there are very few museums for washing machines. I have visited the Louvre, Vatican, Uffizi, Getty, Norton Simon, Kimball, and Boston museums of art. Yet I have not visited a museum where people congregate to see different versions of the washing machine including the washboard, or a display of rocks on a river bed that were used to clean laundry. Why do we not sit in front of the washing machine while drinking beverages or eating snacks instead of watching television? The washing machine has a wonderfully steady rhythm that could be compared to the tempo of music. It can remove colored stains and smells on clothes, which music and television cannot do. Perhaps people should wash clothes while sitting near the washing machine, open a bottle of fine wine, and just be entertained by this marvelous invention. Is there a washing machine dance one can learn and perhaps do it in a group of people for a social activity?
     Walking past my washing machine, I do not acknowledge it as much as the copy of an angel painting from the Uffizi museum that is hanging on my wall, nor the Chopin Nocturnes I listen to for relaxation. Perhaps, as a child, I never grew an emotional attachment to a washing machine. I just expected the clothes to be cleaned inside the mashing machine. I do expect to be amazed at a symphony, but certainly not at a laundry mat. With maturity, I have come to appreciate the washing machine. The washing machine is a marvelous invention that we, as a society take for granted. The sound of a washing machine could be music to one’s ears. Instead of supporting the arts, I am supporting the washing machine.