Happy Earth Day - Clotheslines

Coincidentally, I received the poem below just as I was thinking, "I need to bring in the clothes on the line before those clouds open up."

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare!

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way . . .

But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is any body's guess!

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line.

I have mostly fond memories of being "made" to hang clothes on the line at Grandma's house, growing up. Dragging the umbrella-like line out to the hole in the middle of the yard; the smell of heavy, wet linens; running under them; toes digging into the soft ground; spending "hours" combing the grass in search of Mom's aquamarine earring; folding sheets out in the sun; jumping in the basket on top of fluffy, warm clothes; the heaven-scent of line-dried sheets on bed at night.

And, today, our HOA does not allow clotheslines. Really? So I have one long, retractable line that is not permanently affixed, but which I jerry-rig to the poles of our deck. It's not really high enough, but it works. And I challenge the HOA police to call us on it.

I'm such a rebel, you know.