Clothesline Confessions

I have a clothesline. And I use it.

Living out here in the blissful oblivion of rural America, I had no idea that clotheslines are no longer a thing. But I read an article the other day and it opened with this sentiment: In the old days, if your dryer broke, you could just hang clothes out on the clothesline. Of course, those days are gone ...
At that moment, I glanced out the window at my laundry flapping merrily in the wind and thought, huh? Did I miss something?

I won't attempt to suggest that clotheslines are magically superior to clothes dryers. I'll admit right off the bat that laundry is softer and fluffier after it's bounced around in a clothes dryer. But on the other hand, many people say there's nothing better than laundry dried by the sun and the, wind, with nature's scent infused into its fibers. And it's hard to argue with a method of drying laundry that's pure, energy-saving, and free.

Some sources estimate that drying a load of laundry in an electric dryer equals about $0.50 in energy costs. That adds up, especially if you do a lot of laundry.

In addition to the environmental and the financial benefits, there are aesthetic benefits to drying laundry on the line. I like watching the bath towels dance and flap in the wind. I like seeing the wind kick up and send the clothes into a frenzy.

I like feeling that connection to my pioneer ancestors (oh, wait. .. I didn't have any pioneer ancestors, so let's just go with ancestors.) More bonus points for the clothesline: it's always sunny when the laundry's on the line and there's never a raincloud to mar the experience.

So if the days of using clotheslines are gone, nobody told me, or apparently I missed the memo. Meanwhile, I'll keep buying clothespins and letting my laundry soak up the sun and dance in the breeze and if the towels aren't as soft as they could be, who cares? After all, the wind and the sunshine are free.