There are some very simple things in life that are extremely pleasing, even though they may not always have been pleasing. One of those things for me is clothes hung on the line to dry. It is so clean and fresh smelling, like the sun that has shone on it and the breeze that has blown through it have totally rejuvenated the material!
It is a much simpler process today than years' past, in that I am using the modern convention of a washing machine to clean the clothes for me. I could go down to the creek, fetch a bucket of water, bring it up to the wood burning stove to put it on to boil, pour it into a wash basin, pull out the washboard, and start to scrubbing. Mind you, the wood burning stove would have to have been started at dawn to get it warm enough to boil the water still leaving enough sun time in the day to dry the clothes. So the washing machine it is!
Once I head to the line with my freshly washed clothes, my mind again enters a previous era...while I shake the clothes out to minimize the wrinkles and attach each piece to the line with my wooden clothes pins, I imagine women like myself, who 200 years ago would be wearing a long skirt and long sleeved top, with laced boots and a bonnet...how warm that must have been! Back to today, as I hang each item with care, to be sure to eliminate any unnecessary folds (don't like ironing one single solitary bit!), I find tremendous pleasure in the simplicity of the process. All the while fully grateful to be dressed comfortably in whatever I have chosen for the day:)
It is important to note that you must get the clothes out on the line early enough to get lots of sun and breeze so the clothes dry completely. So far for me, this has taken at least 4 or 5 hours, being that it is still quite cool up here in the mountains and the sun takes some time rise over the mountain to the east, and for the fogginess to dissipate so the sun can be fully bright.
So at the end of the day, after watching and listening to my clothes flap in the breeze all day long, I remove each item off the line. As I do so, I can't help but bring each piece to my nose and take a long breath, so fresh!, so bright!, truly delightful!
The funny thing is, prior to our coming to our log cabin, and living more simply, I would NOT be hanging clothes on the line. Once while at our place on the river, our dryer broke, and I was devastated! Johny had to rig up a line for me, and I grumbled the entire time as I drug the clothes from the washer to the line, waited impatiently while it dried, and then brought it all inside to put away! My perspective is so different now, with our current life choice. And I am happy hanging clothes on the line to dry in the fresh mountain air.
Do you have a new perspective on something in your life?
During an extended stay at our cabin, I began to make my own laundry detergent. When I bought the ingredients the cashier knew exactly what they were for and commented how many people that day had purchased those items. I told her I had never made it before. Ears perked all around and so many people told me I would never go back. And I haven't. I am currently near Charleston, SC. Any time I mention I make my own detergent, people look at me like I have two heads. 'Why would I make something I can so easily purchase' is the expression on their faces. I long to get away from this mantality. Line drying clothes here isn't the same and I do not do it. They do not smell fresh and I inevitably get bitten by ants. But something I will consider in the mtns!
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