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Driving down the streets in my neighborhood you probably wouldn’t even notice that something is missing. I mean, the houses all have windows and doors, roofs and lawns, and the local dogs and cats look pretty happy.

But you never see a clothesline anywhere.

And I wonder why. They seem like a cheap, simple and helpful device.

Do people worry that hanging their laundry outside makes them look like dryer-less losers?

My house came with a wonderfully long clothesline, strung years ago between the house and the garage, and even though I can barely reach it, I use it all the time.

One summer day, I had a dozen T-shirts on hangers and a couple of my nice skirts hanging out there. Air-drying is gentle on your expensive clothes, you know.

All together 17 pieces of clothing in hues from pink, to tan, to black, dangled from the line.

Love that smell. I’m sorry, but no dryer sheet can fake the real outdoor fresh scent.

Then this nice woman pulls up and asks if I am – perhaps – having a garage sale?

“Huh? No,” I said, “I’m just using my clothesline. I know that’s unusual but that’s all I’m doing.”

I’m sure she was eyeing my favorite floral print skirt thinking she could get it for five bucks.

Sorry, ma’am, not today.

I grew up with clotheslines and I can’t live without them. In Denmark, where I lived until 15 years ago, the weather is rather temperamental and unpredictable, yet clotheslines flourish.

As a kid, hearing the rallying cry: “It’s raining – oh no – go get the laundry…” would make you sprint outside to yank towels and sheets and shirts and jeans off the line as clothespins flew around you.

Sometimes the laundry was still wet, so when the shower passed you’d get to pick the clothespins off the lawn and hang everything up one more time.

Over the years I’ve played host to many Danes here in Spokane and they usually find a couple of good things to say about our fair city. One of the highest compliments came from an older relative, about seven years ago, when she remarked on “the absolutely beautiful drying weather you have here.”

She just could not understand why people would use dryers when her shirts dried outside in 30 minutes.

I suspect she washed a little more than she really had to, just to not “miss out” on that great weather.

She obviously couldn’t take it home with her.

So there’s my pitch for clotheslines. If you don’t buy into the romance of air-dried shirts, remember that every time you don’t use the dryer, you save around 50 cents on your power bill.