Clotheslines

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 ).