Musings from Marilyn

Archive for June, 2010

I suppose I should be elated that we’ve finally gotten a couple of “nice” days wedged in between the ever-present clouds and rain?  As a 100% laundry air-dryer, I pay even greater attention to the weather, always aware of when it is the right time to hang out on the clothesline.  When there is a break in the rain, I’ve been luxuriating in actually being able to hang my laundry outside.  It is something that I’ve waited for all winter (and this year, spring); the ability to let Mother Nature’s sun and wind blow dry my clothes.  I really like the feel and scent of outside-dried laundry.  The scent is absolutely captivating, and changes with the seasons.  And I get very tired of  indoor laundry racks cluttering up the house.

There have been a couple of days this week where it was dry, and even a little bit of sunshine, so I briskly took advantage of the line-drying opportunity.  It is so great to be able to hang it all up in the morning and just leave it out all day.  I don’t have to wait around for clothes to dry in the dryer, I let nature do its thing in its own time.  I swear the laundry just loves being outside too; soaking up the rays and catching a breeze!

However, I have noticed that I now have a bit of competition for my clothesline.  Spiders are building their webs on it, and seemingly millions of teeny tiny spiders are madly scurrying around.  I do like spiders – when they are outside, doing useful things like catching bugs.  I don’t like them in the house – or trying to take up space on my clothesline.  So I have been knocking them webs off.  But just to show I am not entirely heartless, I did leave a web on today – it must have been a very polite spider who built its web at the very end of the clothesline.  I can deal with that.  Tiny spiders crawling in my laundry just doesn’t appeal to me.

Along with spider confrontation, I have noticed a great many buzzing bees around my clothesline.  I do believe there is a hive nearby.  That’s what I get for leaving the dandelions for the bees to feast on!  No, actually I love bees and like to protect and encourage them at all costs.  So I am learning to coexist with them too…as long as I don’t get stung I’m cool with that.

I do have raccoons who live in a tree stump in my side yard.  I’m awaiting their annual summer appearance with their babies.  I don’t mind raccoons either – they keep the vermin population at bay.  And as long as they stay away from the house (and my clothesline), I’m cool with them too.

Here’s to many days of sweet summer drying!

~Marilyn

Take a look at the sky in this picture.  This was just taken today from my backyard and has become a constant sight around here day after day.  Gray, cloudy, rainy weather has gripped us all spring.  Cool temperatures too.  There have been a few days of sunshine, which have been glorious, but the dark clouds always seem to be lurking around the corner.

I really try not to be the complaining sort, especially about things that I have no control over – like the weather.  I do, after all, live in the Pacific Northwest, where moisture is king!  This is good for keeping the landscape nice and green, the air clean, and the skin dewy.  It gets a little trickier for line-drying enthusiasts like myself, when trying to schedule an outdoor drying session though.

After three solid weeks of rain, it was finally a sunny day yesterday.  I hurriedly washed several loads of laundry and loaded up my clothesline.  It was an absolutely ideal drying day; warm temperature and softly blowing breeze.  It was a joy to once again see my laundry waving, doing the clothesline dance in the sun!  Everything dried relatively quickly and since it stayed sunny all day, I could rest easy knowing that the sun could just do its work without interruption.

I am glad that I got the bulk of my laundry done yesterday, as today it is back to the gray clouds and rain.  And probably for the foreseeable future.  It’s looking like it will be a very cool summer around here.  This means that I will have to keep an even greater eye on the sky:  looking for those lurking rain clouds whenever there is a patch of sunlight to hang the laundry in.  I also have my indoor drying racks close at hand.  I use them all winter and was hoping to put them away for the summer.  But to be a successful air-drying enthusiast, the first rule is to be flexible…and patient…and diligent…well, you get the point.  Dry on!

~Marilyn