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My dryer broke 9 days ago.
Which hasn't been horrible as our weather has been unseasonably nice and since we live in the city, there are no pesky ordinances against hanging my underwear outside.
So for over a week, we have hung our socks and underwear, sheets and jeans outside for the wind to dry and our neighbors to admire.
We seem to air our dirty laundry enough, so it was a nice change of pace to just air our clean skivvies.
Then it rained this weekend, causing my living room to become a laundromat.
What started as a chore though, has become something more...something more "my glass is half full" -esque. It has brought back memories...
-of my grandma hanging everything out on the line, even jeans when it was 30 below zero. I remember handing her clothespins to make quick work of the chore.
-Clothes hanging in our home in the Winter to keep the air humid.
-Playing fort and hide-and-seek between the sheets on the line - running through the clothing tunnels on a bright sunny day.
-Folding clothing brought in that was warm for the sun and fresh from the air.
Perhaps I am a bit sad that my own girls won't have these memories of simpler times and hard work.
Perhaps I will ask Jed to string up a permanent line for us out back and we can bring this household chore back in fashion?
I just better go check with my neighbors first.
xoxo,t
9 comments:
I love hanging clothes outside. There's something wonderful about that wind/sun-dried smell. We don't have a clothesline (darn HOA!), but my mom does and I take full advantage when I visit.
Sorry Tracy, unless your house came with a clothesline (it would have been 'grandfathered' in), St. Paul actually DOES have an ordinance against it! My neighbors got around it by installing one that reels back up at the end of the day...remember, we live in MN, where there is a law for EVERYTHING. Do you think the city has a full time staff person that just drives around to see if anyone has an illegal clothesline????
Okay Kristi - now I am just sad. :( I guess I need to find a retractable one. ;)
I will continue to live dangerously and hope for a ticket on my panties soon.
xoxo,t
We used to have cast-iron clothesline poles cemented into place on our farm....a F5 tornado could hit us and they would have been still standing. Sturdy they were, but horribly unsightly as they were placed so they were the first thing anyone would see as they drove up our driveway to our home. Living on a farm on the prairie makes for unending galeforce winds, blowing dirt, flies (and their specs), and animals & children that pulled clean laundry off the line or napped on any accidently blown off. Using my clothesline was certainly a challenge, so I decided clotheslines weren't intended for the prairie and we got rid of them many years ago. The only thing I miss about them is the wonderful smell the laundry had when it would come in from outside. I am, however, a huge indoor air drier!
An ordinance for hanging clothes on the line! Can you imagine? There must have been some awful looking clothing being hung outside to cause an ordinance such as that! Can you imagine the energy that could be saved if we used them more often? I wouldn't be without my clothes line. Most recently in our newspaper was an article with a full description on "how to hang clothes"! Oh my, the state we are in! My Mother had an art to how things were hung - color - like garmets - etc. I just hung out whatever was the next piece of clothing. There is something about using those clothes pins that can be fun:) I do also remember growing up and going to homes that had lines throughout the living quarters - so your arrangement is a little unique - but I'm sure it works.
Oh T! I LOVE our clothesline. My dad and Kevin built a Martha Stewart design several years ago and I LOVE to hang clothes outside. I love that they don't take forever. I love how crisp and sunny they feel. It's just so different somehow.
I would totally rig up one of those reel in ones if I were you. It's so worth it. And saves energy like crazy!
I LOVE the scent of the clothes dried outside. My mom loves towels dried on the line because she says the crunch feeling has amazing exfoliating effects.
I think you should be a clothesline rebel.
I vote you break the law, too! Drying clothes outside is so romantic to me.
Gee whiz, I hope your panties don't get a ticket.
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