Rites of Spring

Today is a perfect spring day.  Sunny with warm breezes blowing.  So today I performed one of the rites of spring.  I hung out the laundry to dry in the sun.  This is one of my favorite rites of spring that I began that first summer that we moved to the farm.  Like most young couples we had managed to buy our dream but found that we had stretched our expenses to the limit to do so.  In short, times were tight.  We cut back everywhere that we could to save a little here and there.  In an effort to save on the electric bill I decided to hang out my clothes instead of using the dryer during the warm months. 

I had hubby string two clotheslines from a tree to one of the outbuildings.  I then proceeded to hang out my laundry.  I soon discovered there are numerous advantages to letting nature do the work.  The first thing I found out is that a hot, breezy summer day will dry clothes faster than in the dryer!  That meant that I could finish faster.  A second plus was that hubby's undershirts benefited several times over.  One they were brightened by the sun but most of all they lengthened!  A winter of drying them tended to cause them to become shorter but a strong breeze stretched them right out again.  Living on a hill we have a strong breeze most of the time.  I think I spent most of the first summer going to the fence to collect things that blew off, before I learned to use my clothespins more effectively.

The best part of hanging out clothes is the quiet time.  There aren't many times when I have a chance to just stand in the yard and enjoy the things around me.  While I'm pinning clothes to the line I have time to listen to the mockingbird sing his entire list of songs.  I have even caught him tormenting the cats by mimicking a cat meow.  The poor old cats are always fooled!  I enjoy gazing over the fields and watching the cows and calves as they graze.  I find my eye drawn to the budding japonica bush next to the clothesline.  The sun shines down as the muted sounds drift to my ears of the men working on a piece of equipment getting it ready for the field .  I hear the giggles of the kids as they head around the house.  I see a bird beginning to carry hay to the porch post where she insists on building a nest every year (and decorating the porch with her "calling cards")  It's so peaceful that I find I return to the house refreshed and ready to continue with my chores.

I find that I have certain rituals that I follow.  The sheets always go in the front so that they shield the underclothes from a casual visitor to the yard.  (Like everyone doesn't wear underclothes).  Then I always sort the clothes as I hang them up.  All of  hubby's clothes together, then mine then the kids, with all the kinds together (t-shirts, pants, shirts, etc.)  Then the socks are paired and hung together for quick folding.  That way when I take the items off the line and fold them into the basket they are ready to be put in the drawers.  Why is it that sorting a laundry basket of machine dried clothes is such a chore, but hanging them neatly on a line is a delight?

I once mentioned this to my aunt and she nodded and said that she, too, loved hanging out clothes.  I looked at her in surprise that this matron with all the conveniences and daily help could ever have hung out laundry.  I guess I needed reminding that we all started out as young couples on a tight budget with small children.  Times pass and things are much easier now, as they were at her stage of life.  Often we get so wrapped up in the business of living that we forget to remember to take joy in the simple chores of life. In the middle of the rush and hurry sometimes we need to stop and listen to the world around us and just enjoy the sunshine.  For me, it means hanging out the laundry and remembering those days gone by when the kids were little and we were young and struggling--and being thankful for then and now.