SO WHAT

if I happen to be a bit of a reactionary? At least a nostalgic. A reminiscer.

It doesn't mean I prefer the past. I don't. There are just some things I miss. And yes, I miss clotheslines and washing hung out to dry. No fabric softener or Bounce can duplicate the smell of clothes dried outside.

Plus, clotheslines served as goalposts for extra points in many backyard football games. The posts served as chin-up bars. Back to the lines, they were beneficial for the little guys who could run under them with ease while the big guys chasing them had to duck or they would, well get clotheslined.

Even when we've traveled and seen some pretty makeshift, desolate looking clotheslines hanging much used clothes several tenement stories high, I like the look. Laundry just needs to be displayed. Well, at least shirts and pants. Unmentionables (is that old fashioned or what?) can be on the backside (pun) of the double line and out of view. Modesty used to be in vogue (ok, another pun) in those olden times.

I did a double take just yesterday when I passed our old neighbor's house and thought I spotted a clothesline of sorts. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was only a dog run for his dog, Lola. Whom I call Lulu for some reason when we three congregate on the street.

Last house we lived in before our Western move had a clothesline post. Just one, so no fresh shirts for me. But where we lived,we had some leaf torchers to the north--she was all-world; and one a little farther south, so I'd have to catch them on an off-day. Even then smoldering could linger for days, so I'd have had to resort to lavender Bounce. Which brings back no fond memories or olfactory satisfaction.

Laundry just isn't laundry unless it's visibly shared.