Clotheslines
I get excited about small things in life. I have discovered that little changes done consistently over time tend to produce more meaningful change ( at least for me ) than the radical, sweeping changes.
This weekend we put up a clothesline. Big deal, right? Well, in a way it is, as crazy as that sounds. We discovered this past spring that using the dryer was not only unnecessary for the most part but also a waste of energy both in the actual drying and in the added heat in the house. Clotheslines used to be a given in the US. Every house had them, and everyone hung their clothes out to dry. I don’t know when that changed, but it probably changed when neighborhood associations became the method for governing behavior in a neighborhood. I remember that our old neighborhood did not allow clotheslines. At the time I thought that was a great idea. Now I think it’s moronic.
I guess I like to think that putting up a clothesline, much like starting our own garden a couple summers ago, is another step along the way to being less dependent on the machine. I also like the idea of pissing off all of the neighbors who think it’s tacky to have a clothesline. If you start to weigh the cost of every decision you make, from the food you buy ( or don’t ) to the way you do the simple things in life like drying clothes, it can make a significant difference.
Next up is to build a chicken coop in the back yard and watch the neighbors really freak out. ( Although I am not sure my house is zoned for farm animals ).
