Clotheslines

I got a haircut today, and on my way back out to my car, I was struck by the sight of all these whites on the clothesline of the house next door.  It sent me back in time to my growing-up years.  My parents never had a clothes dryer, so clothespins and clotheslines were the only way to go.  That seems so long ago now.

I have a vivid memory of our next door neighbor, Helen, who could be found every morning hanging out the wash on her clothesline-on-a-pulley system.  I would sit at the kitchen table, mesmerized by the mechanical wizardry of Helen's clothesline.  She would clip those T-shirts to the line, then send them out to the ends of the property, clipping more and more whites to the line.  The fact that her son Bobby's underwear were included in that parade of whites had no effect on me.  I was intrigued by the pulley system alone.

We had what I think can be termed a sunshine umbrella clothesline.  It could spin around as my mother clothespinned as many articles of clothing as she could onto it.  If the weather was bad, we had an indoor clothesline set up in the basement.  I can recall many a time that I had to descend into that dark world in hopes of retrieving some underwear for the next day.

On a bit of a side note, I recall a time when my mother took my sister and me with her to nearby Middletown, NY, where the closest S&H Green Stamps redemption center was located.  My mother's intention was to redeem her Green Stamps for a laundry cart.  It was a canvas basket of sorts that attached to a wheeled metal bracket.  There was a pocket to put the clothespins in.  It was a high-falutin' piece of modern technology, believe me!  I recall the counter person there bringing out a very heavy cardboard box in which the requested laundry cart resided.  We hoisted it into the Buick and headed home.  When my mother opened the box, what did she find but SIX laundry carts!  I am sorry to tell you that I do not know what she did with all those carts, but I can tell you that she did NOT return them to the S&H Green Stamps redemption center.  I suppose it was the biggest win she ever had, and we'll leave it at that.

So what am I in love with?  The fact that someone could put out miles and miles of clean white clothes on a line and send me back in time to some rather sweet memories.  What am I not in love with?  The fact that I rely on a dryer to do what the sun and wind could do for me for free.  I'll have to think hard about that.  I'll get back to you.