Down With the Wrinkle

I'm staring at a new iron, one that doesn't splatter, gurgle, or leak. Ironing is not my favorite activity. I never could figure out how to iron around button holes or how to avoid ironing long creases in pants legs. Most things I own do not require ironing.

My mother could look at a crease and it withered away to flat under her expert handling of the iron. I almost expected her to twirl the iron like a gunslinger.

Wrinkles bothered people for years. Archeologists even found "Smoothers" made of glass and used by Viking women to get out those pesky wrinkles. Glass and smooth rocks were used to press pleats into garments.

The art of ironing--another casualty to modernity. Ironing isn't dead, but it can be avoided by eschewing any fabric that requires the iron.