If all the clothes that I've hung on clotheslines over the years were put on a line, it would reach to the moon, but would interfere with air traffic.
Not that I'm complaining. I love hanging out laundry.
This winter has been dry and mild, giving me occasional opportunities to put things on the line.
A couple of days ago, there was another unseasonable sixty-degree day with a nice breeze. It contrasted sharply with the same date a year ago, when there was a record low of minus eleven degrees with a blizzard.
Sheets that are line-dried have a crispness that is not attainable in the dryer. At times when the house windows remain closed, they have an exquisite scent of outdoors, faint but unmistakable. When the windows are open, everything smells like fresh air.
It remains a mystery to me why I find this activity so pleasant. Maybe it's just one more thing to do outside. It requires a good eye for weather. It was thirty degrees the morning in question, so I waited with the bedding for the temperature to rise, which it did before noon. It was only after the two loads of laundry were on the line that I noticed the gravel trucks roaring up and down the road.
Apparently there were some road repairs nearby. We were all working ahead of a storm forecast for the morrow.
My place is on the north side of the road. The wind is generally from the south. The house is between the road and the clotheslines, affording some protection from the clouds of road dust. I'm frequently amazed that things don't turn brown on the line.
When I see a scene in a movie where someone is hanging out clothes, I can tell they've never done such a thing in their lives. There is a knack of giving the damp things a quick snap that gets rid of wrinkles. Sometimes, the clothes in the movie appear dry to start with. They're not fooling me. Movie stars will never know what they're missing.
Sometimes, a rain will blow in unexpectedly. Then there is the excitement of snatching the clothes from the lines before they get sprinkled on.
In the fall, I washed all the window valances and put them out on the lines. There was a brisk wind, so I used plenty of clothespins. The different colored materials blew straight out. They looked like Nepalese prayer flags. All that was needed was an Everest or Bust pennant.
