As most of the nation has been finding out, life has had to get quite a bit simpler with economic times being a tough as they are. And they are tough, rawhide tough. But I won’t belabor my little moan right now. With downsizing our wants and thinning out our needs (my dreams of an art degree along with it) I’ve actually been able to catch a breath of fresh air and slow down just a bit.
My simplest luxury right now is the clothesline. We’ve had one all these years; it’s just been a long time since it has seen me as consistently as it has this past summer. Funny how a few wires and four poles can hold so much fondness for me.
When I was a little girl growing up we had a clothesline out back. I remember swinging in our swing and watching my mother hang the linens. She had a way of folding the sheets in half so that the corners matched perfectly and each one was in balance with its partner. The breeze would catch the fabric causing the billowing and floating to rise and fall in concordance with my pumping. Table cloths were single hung cheering me on with snappy boarders, and towels drooped, their colors in sync with the rainbow.
I remember walking between the laden lines, stretching my arms out, fingers splayed maximizing the senses….cool touch, laundry clean air, almost gossamer. And oh, the blankets! They were never blankets. They were huts, tents, forts, clubhouses of the most exclusive kind. How my mother was ever able to just let go of her ideal and let us play with the laundry I’ll never know, but she has my admiration and love because of it.
Now pull me forward to just a half of a lifetime ago. Our own babies are here and diapers, lots of diapers, are now out on the line punctuated with little bitty socks and pastel colored nightgowns. Same laundered smell, only warmer sun…I’d moved south by then, same billowing, same floating….and a fuller heart.
Now today, being washday, the yard is quiet…way too quiet….no swings are moving, school is in session. A little cat dressed in a tuxedo walks the edging of the flowerbed watching me hang once more the story of my week. My fingers are hardly sensing the wooden clothes pins. Time has been marked on those empty spaces, tiny shirts to size medium…men’s, twirly skirts to what is cool today. Probably more towels now than before. But that’s okay it’s what it’s about, moving on, metamorphose, change. So the sun warms my back, and the sky is cerulean blue, that is as it should be….hmmm, now how to paint that………
Submitted by ~A Woman’s Place~
Merrywives' Blog 
I am enjoying the new postings and articles. Thank you for sharing. We who know the joys of living this Principle can relate to the simple joys as well as well as the bigger landmarks that make up a life well-lived. But do you notice for us, it all comes back to family? Children seem to be the focal point of our lives, for fathers and mothers. How I have enjoyed the children in our families!
When I was just a liddlebit way back I used to wonder what it would be like to be all alone, left in a house with nothing but the ticking of the clock to keep me company…it actually kind of frightened me and I wouldn’t let my mind dwell on it much. But you know what now? I’m probably never going to have to find out and I am so very glad for that. To be surrounded by such abundance of life is just my cup of tea. 🙂
Nice imagery! Very enjoyable to read.