handy
Member
I should never, ever nap in the afternoon. I did today and now look, it's 3:00am and I'm wide awake, perusing the 'net because I can't sleep.
And, as I dink around the 'net, I stumble across something I surely was not aware of before. Namely that the most offensive thing that suburbanites can do is to subject their neighbor's to the sight of *gasp* laundry hanging on a clothesline, drying in the sun.
Apparently clotheslines lower property values?
Really? Why? What is wrong with the sight of laundry hanging on a line? Watching overweight young women walk around with low-riding jeans exposing muffin-tops and belly rolls is OK, but oh the horrors, if those jeans are hung on a line?
For a period of about 9 weeks, I lived in a condominium complex in Winston-Salem, NC. It was the only time in my life that I ever lived in an area with a Homeowner's Association. Since it was winter while I lived there, the whole idea of hanging the wash outside didn't come up. I was there such a short time that the only thing I heard about the HOA was that one of the neighbors told us to be on the lookout for the snow removal people and to tell them to NOT remove the snow in front of one of the units, because those folks (an elderly couple) hadn't paid their HOA dues. I admit it fully, did then and do now, I stood sipping a cup of tea and watched while the snow folks did their thing over the whole parking lot and didn't murmur a word about Unit C.
If I had still lived there come Spring, I'm pretty sure the same neighbor would have been speaking to others in the complex about moi (except maybe to the folks in C).
Because, I for sure would have put up a clothesline. I love the smell of clothing that has dried outside. I love that fresh outdoors smell! Even when the kids come in from playing outside, I have this tendency to grab them, hug them and breathe in the fresh scent...yeah, they think I'm weird. I do use the dryer for the whites, because it's just too time consuming to hang up each sock and undie that I wash. I also dry the jeans, otherwise they get stiff. But towels, wash cloths, shirts, blouses, nightgowns, jammies...as long as it's nice outside, they're on the line. Especially the sheets and pillowcases. I love slipping in between fresh washed sheets and laying my head on a freshly laundered pillowcase that was dried on the line.
And somehow this is supposed to lower our property values? Still can't figure that one out.
One woman in upscale Awbry Butte, OR fought a fight with her HOA about hanging her laundry outside. She does it to be "green". That cost her almost $1000 in fines and penalties and lead to her decision to sell her home. Apparently she tried to get a law passed on the state level in OR to strike down clothesline bans, but the bill stalled in the Oregon senate.
I guess it is true....it isn't easy being green.
And, as I dink around the 'net, I stumble across something I surely was not aware of before. Namely that the most offensive thing that suburbanites can do is to subject their neighbor's to the sight of *gasp* laundry hanging on a clothesline, drying in the sun.
Apparently clotheslines lower property values?
Really? Why? What is wrong with the sight of laundry hanging on a line? Watching overweight young women walk around with low-riding jeans exposing muffin-tops and belly rolls is OK, but oh the horrors, if those jeans are hung on a line?For a period of about 9 weeks, I lived in a condominium complex in Winston-Salem, NC. It was the only time in my life that I ever lived in an area with a Homeowner's Association. Since it was winter while I lived there, the whole idea of hanging the wash outside didn't come up. I was there such a short time that the only thing I heard about the HOA was that one of the neighbors told us to be on the lookout for the snow removal people and to tell them to NOT remove the snow in front of one of the units, because those folks (an elderly couple) hadn't paid their HOA dues. I admit it fully, did then and do now, I stood sipping a cup of tea and watched while the snow folks did their thing over the whole parking lot and didn't murmur a word about Unit C.
If I had still lived there come Spring, I'm pretty sure the same neighbor would have been speaking to others in the complex about moi (except maybe to the folks in C).
Because, I for sure would have put up a clothesline. I love the smell of clothing that has dried outside. I love that fresh outdoors smell! Even when the kids come in from playing outside, I have this tendency to grab them, hug them and breathe in the fresh scent...yeah, they think I'm weird. I do use the dryer for the whites, because it's just too time consuming to hang up each sock and undie that I wash. I also dry the jeans, otherwise they get stiff. But towels, wash cloths, shirts, blouses, nightgowns, jammies...as long as it's nice outside, they're on the line. Especially the sheets and pillowcases. I love slipping in between fresh washed sheets and laying my head on a freshly laundered pillowcase that was dried on the line.
And somehow this is supposed to lower our property values? Still can't figure that one out.
One woman in upscale Awbry Butte, OR fought a fight with her HOA about hanging her laundry outside. She does it to be "green". That cost her almost $1000 in fines and penalties and lead to her decision to sell her home. Apparently she tried to get a law passed on the state level in OR to strike down clothesline bans, but the bill stalled in the Oregon senate.
I guess it is true....it isn't easy being green.
Madge became a hero of sorts --- her latest effort resulted in saving my swimming pool's imbalance by pouring in a box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda instead of buying expensive pool store chemicals. Of course in real life I did just that, and as I joked with the other members, my pool's chemistry has "never been better". 
I declare!
