This past weekend when my brother Johnny came to visit, he and Karl put in my clothesline posts. Karl got the wires strung and today was my first day of hanging out clothes. Oh am I thrilled!!! There is something special about seeing sheets and dishtowels wafting in the breeze on a glorious day!!!
Growing up in on a farm in Indiana, my mother worked so hard to keep us clean and fed. With 9 children, there were LOTS of clothes on the clotheslines!!! And we had LONG clotheslines!!! Mine are only 22 ft, with 4 strands, but that will be more than enough for our purposes.
Tonight when I go to bed and climb between those crisp cotton sheets, it will be a wonderful reminder of how blessed I am.
I read a poem years ago about clotheslines and thought I would share. Enjoy!
A CLOTHESLINE POEM
by Marilyn K. Walker
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 anybody'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.
