Blowin' in the Wind

sorry for the repeated edits -- I had to correct some typos

One of the things that I'm delighted with in this house is the clothesline. Here's a photo of the first day I used it (9/19):In those first days until our drier was installed (it is now, but not yet on top of our front loading washer like we want because we can't find two of the little parts to secure them) I had no choice but hang my clothes outside, but I continue doing it because it is the best choice for the environment, for the clothes themselves, and it also saves us some money!

Hanging clothes brings me back to my childhood and the first year and a half after we were married in Brazil. I've always enjoyed doing the laundry and hanging it (after we were married I hanged it in the "laundry room" in the back part of our third floor apartment -- a long room in "behind" the kitchen with windows all around and with clotheslines hanging from one side to the other). Linton has also found out that it's lots of fun running against the longer items like sheets and blankets and he giggles as he does it. I used to do the same thing as a child, walking in between the hanging sheets and pretending they were tunnels and the like.

One big advantage over the drier is that I, compulsive categorizer that I am, can hang the clothes by type and by owner, so when I collect them later it's much easier to put them away!

I also love the smell of air dried clothes and I can finally smell the sweet smelling softener that I use. The only "downside" is minimal: the towels feel rougher and harder, but they also seem to dry better and, of course, if I want them softer I know I can put them in the drier for a few minutes to fluff them! Another photo from the same day, another angle (I turned the line around):
(I "hid" the underwear behind the bigger items on purpose, since I was going to take photos ;)

Last week, after putting away one huge box of my husband's clothes in the closet, I washed nine of his dress shirts, several of which I'd bought for him. It was a very pretty sight, those light colored and striped shirts blowing in the wind, but unfortunately I didn't take a photo :(

I'm taking a break from writing this post to hang clothes, OK? Maybe I'll post a photo of the latest load in the end...

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The only problem with our wind is that it may not be a harmless breeze, quite the contrary. On the very same day I hanged my first load of clothes to dry our very nice Brazilian realtor (a woman) forwarded a link to this blog to us. Jon Goodman is an investigative reporter who lives in this area and he is working hard to denounce the local air pollution by TCE a pollutant that can cause cancer and other harms such as birth defects. Reading some of his entries I felt very concerned and sad as I was hanging those clothes, thinking of the deadly poisons that may be in our air, blowing in that same wind that dries our clothes. I don't feel so bad about it now, but it made the task of hanging clothes on that day a bittersweet one.

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I want to post this before K gets home from the airport for lunch, so I won't add a photo of today's load -- most of it is dry by now (I hanged it around 11:30)! I haven't said anything about the weather lately, but it's been really hot in the Philadelphia area and I've been soaking up every minute of sun and warmth even though it does feel very weird for October... I miss the New England Fall very badly this time of year.