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We were eating lunch today and my wife, Irene, said, "Today's a great day for hanging out." Now, she didn't mean just "hanging out" - she meant for hanging out the laundry on the clothesline. That is one of the joys of her life in Adirondack country - the ability to hang the laundry out to dry in the country breeze! That point really hit home this year when we had to take down the clothesline to have our septic redone. That's a story for another day, but the clothesline, which is over 80 feet long - had to be removed for the machinery, and we didn't put it up till just last week because we were waiting for grass to regrow in that area so the newly washed clothes weren't covered with dust.
We've almost always had a clothesline during our married years. It must be a leftover of both of our childhoods in the country, where you wouldn't think of not having a line. In fact, I think that is one of the things my dad first liked about my new wife - her affection for the clothesline. The only time we didn't have one was the year we spent living in the condo just before our permanent move to the country. That was a year when we really missed that clothesline! Turns out, though, that in some areas closer to town, they frown on clotheslines. My mother-in-law's neighbor wanted to put up a line but was afraid that she'd be ridiculed in the neighborhood. My mother-in-law, who had just heard from another neighbor that her own clothesline (they have a small, umbrella-line one) was "uncouth" with all the underwear hanging out, told that clothesline-wanting neighbor to go ahead and put one up! We're still waiting to see how that goes. But out here in the country, clotheslines - where there are folks living - abound. If people live there - they have a well-used clothesline! In fact, we often see the same clothes on lines for several days - getting nicely softened with rain and dried in the summer breeze. So, what's a great day for drying? While we were eating lunch, my reply to that statement was, "Isn't any day a great day for hanging out?" Well, no I learned. Some days are definitely better than others. Very humid days aren't the best because it takes the clothes a long time to dry. Very hot days aren't the best because the clothes dry too fast and turn "crispy" - a feeling I know too well in the summer. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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