Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wash Wednesday


A gentle breeze rustles through the pines. In the distance a crow caws and a train bellows. A pair of Canadian geese fly overhead honking their greetings. The chickens cackle and chatter begging to be set free on my compost pile. One cat sits and watches me while another climbs the juniper tree dividing my yard from the neighbors. Our resident scrub jays are not pleased with this development and begin to screech and dive bomb the cat. Mickey is unperturbed. Me? I'm on the back patio hanging laundry.

I do not have a proper clothesline. Rather all we own is a metal rack from Target. I have plans, dreams, and am working on the husband to implement them. He tells me I am a hippy. He might be right. In the meantime I've decided enough is enough. I will hang my laundry, line or not.

Today, like yesterday, there is a chance of rain. Yesterday my clothes were rained on. I brought them inside and this morning they were dry. Today I'm watching the clouds ready to rescue the laundry at a moment's notice.

While hanging the clothes I feel somehow more connected. Connected to the world, nature and generations of women. I feel environmental, frugal and rebellious. You see I live in a town where laundry is controversial. In fact my neighborhood is adjacent to the neighborhood in question. There are only two families who can see my laundry. I don't think they'll complain.

I'm struggling to see laundry as an eyesore. I find it strangely beautiful. Happily today I discovered Garden Mama and her Wash Wednesday. Check out her stream for more gorgeous laundry line photographs.

Tell me. Do you hang your clothes out to dry?

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Things I'm Loving Today:
  • Breathing like a normal human being (breathing is not over-rated)
  • Vintage trailers (oh be still my heart)
  • This post (and yes I do think I'll make it myself)
  • A lovely quiet morning to drink coffee, hang laundry and browse blogs
Things I'm Hoping for Today:
  • A good run (i.e. energy and minimal rain)
  • Inexpensive t-shirts for the above project
  • Continued inspiration for all things creative and frugal

7 comments:

elizabeth ~ so wabi sabi said...

I too struggle seeing laundry as an eyesore. I hadn't considered that not only is hanging out laundry a simply pleasure, but that it is actually a privilege. I cannot even imagine having to defend my right to hang out laundry. I use a folding rack to for my smaller items.

Anonymous said...

im definitely going to try hanging my laundry on hangers and then on the rack. i really want to use my dryer less than i do now.

gardenmama said...

Thank you for sharing this beautiful photo! There are many who have emailed me during this wash wednesday challenge stating they are not allowed where they live to hang laundry. It is sad to hear others being denied this simple joy.

Karen Maezen Miller said...

Laundry is sanity. I like the look of sanity.

Jen Tarbet said...

Living like a hippy sounds sooooooo nice right now. Everything all in one place. No fuss, no rush.

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GailNHB said...

I too hang up a lot of our clothes, but I hang it in the laundry room. I'm gonna try the hangers on a rack on the deck thing. Not sure what the neighbors will think. Not sure I care. We all have clothes, don't we??? So why do we so often try to hide the ways in which we clean and dry our clothes?