The right to dry

So, I was watching my regular Sunday Morning show on CBS today, when I saw a segment on clothes lines.

Apparently, there's a big brouhaha brewing out in Bend, Oregon, because some happy homemaker out there has taken to stringing clothes lines in her back yard.

She's not just trying to take advantage of the fresh summer breezes, but to save money and the environment at the same time.

But, some of her neighbors are seething, sneaking onto the poor woman's property in the dead of night to cut her clothesline to ribbons.

Nice, huh?

I have to confess that I do most of my clothes drying in my conveniently climate-controlled laundry room.

But, I do have a clothes line in my back yard. It's a really cool one, at least in my opinion, because one half of the support comes from a grapefruit tree. And, especially this time of year, I like to hang ye olde bed linens out there so they can capture a little of the aromatic Confederate jasmine that drifts across the street from the neighbor's yard.

So, today, while my socks and other bits of personal attire shall remain indoors, I have resolved to show my solidarity for that poor lady in Oregon by airing some of the other laundry around here . . .

Forget the dryer, use the clothesline!

Well, ye socks, we have been enjoying some chamber of commerce type weather in this little corner of heaven over the weekend, which led yours truly to do something I'd vowed never to do again.

Years ago, before I was blessed with a clothes dryer, I had to hang ye olde laundry on a line in the backyard.

The fact that the wind rushing thru the honeysuckle on a nearby fence infused my laundry with some naturally sweet aromas was totally lost on me. I just hated dodging both the bumble bees that frequented the honeysuckle vines and the raindrops that seemed to fall there with greater frequency than any other spot in Central Florida. And, the "bat wings" on my shirts nearly drove me crazy!

Now, however, I have the OPTION of using my handy dandy clothes dryer (in which so many socks have been lost over the years) or the clotheline I discovered in the backyard of my new home. I think it was the lack of options that made using the old clothesline seem like such an onerous burden, not just the bees, rain, and batwings.

The newly discovered clothesline isn't nearly as sophisticated as the old one, as it has just one real pole. The other end of the line is tied to my grapefruit tree!

But, I took a chance this morning and hung a few things on it, to "see if it worked." And, it did! Only, instead of honeysuckle, everything smells faintly citrussy from the grapefruit. (Is citrussy a word?!)

Of course, everything is stiff because clipping fabric softener strips to the line doesn't work. Not that I've tried, of course. That would just be stupid, right?!

Still, I imagine I saved at least a few pennies off next month's utility bill with this little experiment. If the weather holds, I might try it again . . .

Oops, I think I did it again!

Today marks the second time in the last few weeks that yours truly went to retrieve his favorite jeans (and a sock or two) from the dryer, only to find that they were still slightly damp!

I suppose this is to be expected when you toss them in with a load of towels right before you go to bed and don't check on them again until you're ready to walk out the door . . .

I would say there is nothing worse than putting on a pair of damp pants in the morning, but we all know that's a lie.

Things can always be worse.

I mean, it could be winter time and I could be in Alaska, right?

Still, that is little consolation when you've got moist denim clinging to your skin and fighting you every inch of the way.

Note to self: towels only in the next load, and look for that missing sock in the dryer!