It is so often I see pictures posted on Facebook of laundry drying on the line. Someone will have an 
old picture, and the caption reads, “does anyone remember this” or a Facebook friend with the same ideals as mine will post a picture of her sheets hanging on the line. I have to say she is a huge fan of A Simple Stitch Series. That makes me smile.
I remember my grandma hanging out clothes. I remember my mom hanging out clothes. I even remember one day during our summer vacation when my sister and I washed clothes and hung them out on the line to dry to surprise our mom when she got home from work. We spent most of that day in and out of the basement with the next basket of wet clothes, taking down the dry ones to make room.
To this day, for me, there is nothing better than crawling into bed with sheets fresh off of the clothesline. The feel. The smell. The memories. Priceless.
…and if there was a load of towels sharing that line, drying off with a fresh, coarse towel is just a bonus!
Look closely, another common Facebook post – “do you know what this is” picture, my clothespin bag that hangs on the line, sporting my collection of wooden pins, some with springs, some one piece that you simply push down to secure the wash. I found this a few years ago in a booth at an antique mall full of pins for $10. What a bargain. Then, when I looked at the top of the cloth bag, stamped in the fabric when the bag was made, matching the color of the picture on the front said: “.69” (funny, my keypad doesn’t have the old ‘cents’ icon). The clerk had actually taken a marker and lined through the .69 and wrote beside it “.79”!
Suppose the merchant selling the original bag wanted to make a bit more profit?
So, is it any wonder how I can get lost, or shall I say blend in at Slipknot or A Simple Stitch when I sit down to write? The characters all share my values, and many of their memories may just have started out as my own.
I just looked outside. There are ripples on the pond. That means there must be a good breeze. I think I’ll wash a load of clothes!
