There are many obvious Joys of Summer such as: vacations, heat, and sunlight. I have a few of my own Joys, a variety of events I look forward to every year.
Joy #1 - The Clothesline
When I was a kid in Montreal, my Mom used to hang clothes outside in the summer. I think she probably did it to save money. I didn’t particularly like the end result, especially not the sandpaper-like towels.
Something happened since then, and now I can’t wait until it’s warm & sunny enough to dry clothes outside. I could do it all year long, as one of my neighbors does, but that would likely mean bringing wet laundry back inside most days.
My clothesline ritual usually begins sometime in June. There’s something serene about hanging laundry outside and letting the sun dry it out. Maybe it’s the slow mechanical act of hanging and folding clothes. Maybe it’s because everything smells good once it’s dry. Or it could be that letting the elements drying my laundry oddly fills me with glee. I’ve even mysteriously grown to enjoy the rough towels.
My Mom still dries clothes out on a line, but places them in the dryer for 10 minutes when she brings them in “to kill all the bugs”. I don’t have her bug problems unless the clothes spend the night outside. Then I can expect small spiders or ants creeping out of the laundry basket. I sometimes forget about this as in last week, when I went to my yoga class accompanied by a giant black ant who had hitched a ride on my towel. Not cool.
Noteworthy: My friend M.’s parents are in their 80s and have never owned a dryer. They have a giant clothesline which runs through their basement. They use it year-long. Epic.
There was a time when neighborhoods would outlaw clotheslines because they were unsightly. How 1st World! Not sure whether this is still the case. I just know that when the air gets warm and sweet smelling, I can’t wait to start using the line again.
When I was a kid in Montreal, my Mom used to hang clothes outside in the summer. I think she probably did it to save money. I didn’t particularly like the end result, especially not the sandpaper-like towels.
Something happened since then, and now I can’t wait until it’s warm & sunny enough to dry clothes outside. I could do it all year long, as one of my neighbors does, but that would likely mean bringing wet laundry back inside most days.
My clothesline ritual usually begins sometime in June. There’s something serene about hanging laundry outside and letting the sun dry it out. Maybe it’s the slow mechanical act of hanging and folding clothes. Maybe it’s because everything smells good once it’s dry. Or it could be that letting the elements drying my laundry oddly fills me with glee. I’ve even mysteriously grown to enjoy the rough towels.
My Mom still dries clothes out on a line, but places them in the dryer for 10 minutes when she brings them in “to kill all the bugs”. I don’t have her bug problems unless the clothes spend the night outside. Then I can expect small spiders or ants creeping out of the laundry basket. I sometimes forget about this as in last week, when I went to my yoga class accompanied by a giant black ant who had hitched a ride on my towel. Not cool.
Noteworthy: My friend M.’s parents are in their 80s and have never owned a dryer. They have a giant clothesline which runs through their basement. They use it year-long. Epic.
There was a time when neighborhoods would outlaw clotheslines because they were unsightly. How 1st World! Not sure whether this is still the case. I just know that when the air gets warm and sweet smelling, I can’t wait to start using the line again.
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