Nothing New Under the Sun

Not that you necessarily wanted to know, but, sometimes when no one’s looking, I dance around the house in my nightgown. Just when the mood strikes, or a particular song is on the radio. At other times my nightgown dances around without me. Like when it is hanging on the clothesline and the warm summer breeze swirls around the backyard. Trust me. That’s a much prettier picture. I’m a clothesline fan. I grew up in a house where the backyard clothesline was an important household accessory. And now, in my own home, I live the same way. At the first hint of warmer weather, my clothesline goes up. Each week I dry the sheets and comforter and other linens outdoors. I let the sun bleach my white cotton shirts (my uniform, according to my friends.) I love the way my laundry still smells like sunshine and summer when I bring it in after spending the day on the line. But it’s more than just an aesthetic choice. There’s a practical and environmentally-sound side to line-drying. Unlike the energy needed to tumble clothes in the dryer, the sun, which shines so long and hot on this part of the country every summer, doesn’t cost a thing. It’s a reliable natural resource that gets the job done well and doesn’t deepen my carbon footprint. And, unlike the wear and tear, not to mention fading and shrinking, caused by gas or electric dryers, clothing that is line-dried lasts longer. Several years ago we had an exchange student from Germany. In the weeks she spent in our home, we often talked about the differences in the way people live in this country and in so many European cities and villages. For Johanna, the one of the biggest surprises was the fact that laundry was routinely taken out of the washer and put straight into the dryer. “We don’t even own a clothes dryer,” she told me. “It is not something we need.” She told me that in warm months all laundry was pegged on the line to dry. In the winter or wet weather, the clothesline was indoors. There wasn’t any discussion because there wasn’t any other way. “No one I know has an automatic clothes dryer,” she said. Johanna made another good point. She said in addition to burning energy and taking up precious space in compact European homes and apartments, which frequently had little room to spare, she didn’t like dryers for another basic reason. She reminded me that electric or gas dryers actually shorten the lifespan of an article of clothing. And that means money is spent to replace or repair the item that might, with better care, have lasted much longer. In her culture, it was unthinkable to waste money by deliberately damaging garments. Now, when I take a basket of wet laundry out to the clothesline, my mind replays what she said. And, I think of the way I grew up. Each time I pull a piece out of the basket and give it a snap, I’m reminded that letting the sun do the work for me is an ancient concept. And the proof is in fluttering pillowcases, bright white cotton shirts and nightgowns that dance in the breeze.