A major spring event was that I finally put up a clothesline a few weeks ago. I have wanted to for years, but couldn't really think of a good place to put it. About five years ago I bought a kit for one that needed to be cemented in the ground, but I couldn't quite come to terms with the permanence of it. I prefer things to be more transitory to keep up with my many whims. We didn't have a dryer in Japan, and although I just might possibly have grumbled about it from time to time (me?), I did love the crisp, clean scent of windblown sheets, our clothes not shrinking, etc. In France we had a washer/dryer combo, which I wouldn't recommend, but the washer part did much better than the dryer part so I would take the clothes up to the attic, open all the windows, and let them dry to their heart's content. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. It is funny how I missed so many things because they seemed mundane, yet from a distance take on a measure of charm. At any rate, drying my clothes on the line was once again in the forefront of my thoughts so as soon as we returned home I set my sights anew on finding the perfect thing. As I looked online I came across an article that said dryers account for 10% of residential energy use! I have often thought how silly that is when there is ample sun and wind right there, free for the taking! (I also want to put solar panels on my roof, but that is another rant entirely). Well, after sorting through the newfangled and fancy I at last decided upon... the revolutionary idea of a rope strung from tree to tree across the width of the backyard. It was the best way to take advantage of the disinfecting effects of the sun and also we have at least 60 feet of drying space there. I suppose I had never taken this simple step in the past because there is quite a lot of traffic through the back alley and I hadn't wanted to air our "dirty laundry," as it were, so flagrantly for the neighbors. That must show how mature I have become that I am no longer even concerned that everyone see our underwear as long as it is getting sparkling white out there! Whatever anxieties I may have had were quickly extinguished by a kind remark from a woman down the street who told me the other day that she loved seeing our clothes hanging out because it looked so fresh and summery. At first, the rope began to sag, but then I found a plant holder at a garage sale last Friday which works perfectly well as a midpoint support. I would never have thought of that independently, but knew it was just the thing when I saw it. They gave it to me for free which is even better! My biggest problem at this point is my prayers. Please, please, please don't rain on my clothes. Please, please, please rain on my garden. They're a mere three feet apart. {awkward!}
3 comments:
I like hanging clothes on the clothesline too, except for towels and jeans. I've been hanging my diapers on our deck when it's nice outside and they do look a lot better!
Wow! I didn't know you did cloth diapers. That is awesome. Have you written a review on them? I will look. I would still like to go back to air drying our clothes. Our back yard was not practical for it until recently because it was all dirt, and since I live in HURRICANE, the wind made it pointless to air dry outside. I would have had to stick the clothes right back in the washer.
I loved drying diapers outside too! And in the summer, I'm always drying swimming suits and towels, but I've only done it on a clothes rack thing. I've always wanted to do the clothesline thing too. It is against our HOA, and the president lives just around the corner, so I haven't been brave enough yet to try, but I'm thinking about doing the retractable kind and hoping he doesn't happen to drive past when I'm drying stuff.
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