Airing my Laundry

My book club this month told to us to select a poem that we could share with the group for national poetry month.... (I considered not attending this month, I mean after all it is a book club and I do 'read too much'... and without a book what would we discuss?!)
But at the last minute I did decide to go because in doing some research.. (the other thing I'm accused of 'doing too much') I discovered some appalling things... and a poem to go with my appall?.. I'm getting a new clothesline this year!.. I'm very excited. I didn't give it a whole lot of thought other than one weekend this spring I'll have Patrick put up a clothesline for me. I have a large yard and a deck to stand on to put out the clothes, so I thought a pulley clothes line would be perfect. I assumed that when he had the time and I decided on the exact location I'd send him to Lowes for the pulley system and voila I'd be ready to hang.

BOY was I mistaken!... Not only did he not know what he was really looking for but went to Lowes anyway with my admonition that "Oh come on just because you don't know what I'm talking about doesn't mean that the people in Lowes won't be able to point you to the clotheslines!".. He came home without a clothesline and apparently he confused the people at Lowes also. So, I went back to Lowes. I also came home empty handed. I called a few other stores, and to the internet I go. Google is my friend, it won't let me down. Apparently clotheslines are not only passe they are against the law in all but two states!!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Fortunately, Utah is one of the states that it is legal in, unfortunately, there aren't any local places that provide clotheslines in a pulley system. (Apparently while legal, there really isn't much demand for many systems) Utah favors the 'T's or umbrella systems.

That isn't what I wanted though. I want to stand on the deck and hang the clothes. Patrick sensing that I'm about to become the new clothesline distributor or advocate and really wasn't wanting that to happen made wild promises to string a clothes line anywhere I'd like.. back and forth across the deck.. from the satellite dish to the fence... he'd attach an umbrella system to the top of the tether ball pole... just please let it go!! But it was too late!.. I wanted what I wanted! It wasn't like I wanted to convince people to pronounce words like 'foyer' or 'route' correctly.. that is a lost cause.. I just wanted an old fashioned pulley clothesline!

Although I spent much of the wee hours on the internet, (since once my dander is up I apparently don't need sleep anymore) I was only able to find two sites that offered my pulley system for sale. One for $40.00 plus shipping and the other $70.00, but they'd include the shipping! There was a store back east that carried all the parts for you to put one up but they don't ship. However they did have a local store. It just didn't carry any of the parts. It was definitely time to sleep on it.

I wasn't any less exasperated the next morning. Especially after washing all of Patrick's work clothes for the next week. I decided to visit the local store and plead my case. A very nice couple who own and run the little store knew what I was talking about so after some nice smiling and some explaining I was able to convince them to order in the parts if I prepaid for them. So this weekend come rain or shine (and yes or come snow...) I will get my clothesline. I only paid $23.00 for mine.

I feel however, compelled to help somehow with the fight for further states (and I should add provinces) 'right to dry'! Google led me to many discussion groups which helped me to feel better about the fact that finding a clothesline was a predicament and the appalling truth about the lack of the right to dry in so much of the country. The arguments against clotheslines are weak and the desire to have the right to dry is growing! I'm happy to say that change is coming. Although many states have the 'right to dry' on their legislative dockets it often is decided that it needs further investigation or studies, or it gets vetoed or tabled until following years. You haven't seen the last of this laundress!

But I digress.. I was going to book club with a poem. So here is the poem I took to book club.

The Clothesline Said So Much

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 on the line;
You'd see the company table clothes
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To 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 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 gray,
As neighbors raised their brows,
And looked disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is any body'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! 

Author: Marilyn K. Walker