June 9, 2005 ~ A Strange Meeting
Thursday.
Imagine you're in a parking lot behind a theater on a Thursday evening. You see a man in a kilt carrying a large stack of cloth diapers across the parking lot. He hands them to a pregnant woman and walks off.
What do you get when you mix contra dancing with freecycling? Unusual introductory paragraphs, that's what.
I had an appointment with a man in a kilt in a parking lot behind a theater this evening. We exchanged diapers (and a smile and my thanks) and walked away.
The college holds a "contra dance" every Thursday night. Most people park behind the theater. Men traditionally wear skirts or kilts to contra dances. Well, a woman on Freecycle was giving away 45 unbleached cotton pre-fold diapers and offered them to me. When she learned that I live at the college, she was happy, since her husband comes to every contra dance. Hence, the meeting.
The diapers are perfect, and this obliterates the bulk of the expense of cloth diapers. She used liners the whole time, so they were barely ever soiled at all the whole time she used them for her son, and she also has used only non-toxic, biodegradable soap to wash them. They are incredibly thick, and very absorbent. Couldn't get more perfect than that. All I'll have to do now is buy or acquire a pail, some liners and covers (not as many of those are needed), some wipes... Maybe some pins or another sort of fastener. I'll be set.
Freecycle is turning out to be quite the blessing for this whole having a baby thing.
In other news, we bought a little Subaru station wagon from a friend who gave us a deal we couldn't pass up. We knew we'd need to get a car with some sort of cargo space soon so that we can transport two huge dogs and a baby at the same time. SUVs and trucks are not our style at all (not to mention WAY out of our price range), so we were hesitating. And then this dropped into our laps. It was very lucky. We're going to sell the Corolla to make up for the cost; nothing lost, a lot gained. And the gas mileage is just as good! And this car doesn't burn oil! Yay!
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