Wash Day

If you would like to take part in 

Mosaic Monday

visit 

Little Red House
 

A clothes line was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link

for neighbors always knew

If company had stopped by

To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets

 And towels upon the line

You'd see the company table cloths

With intricate designs

The line announced a baby's birth

From folks who lived inside

As brand new infant clothes were hung

So carefully with pride

The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed

You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck

As extra sheets were hung

Then nightclothes and a bathrobe, too

Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "  Gone on vacation Now"

When lines hung limp and bare

It told, "  We're back!"   when full lines sagged

  With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy and gray

 As neighbors carefully raised their brows

And looked the other way.

But clothes lines now are of the past

For dryers make work much less

Now what goes on inside the home

Is anybody's guess

I really miss that way of life

It was a friendly sign

When neighbors knew each other best

By what hung on the line.

 ~ Marilyn K. Walker

Basic Rules for Clothes Lines

1.  You have to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. ~ walk the entire lengths of each line with a wet cloth around the lines.
2. You have to hang the clothes in a certain order and always hang whites with whites and hang them first.
3.  You never hang a shirt by the shoulders, always by the tail. What would the neighbors think?
4. Wash days are on Mondays!  Never hang clothes on a weekend or on Sunday. For Heaven's Sake!
5. Hang the towels and sheets on the outside lines so you can hide your "  unmentionables"  in the middle. (perverts and busy bodies Ya' Know)
6. It doesn't matter if it is sub zero temperatures. Clothes will freeze dry.
7. Always gather clothes pins when taking down clothes. Pins left on the line are tacky!
8. If you are efficient you will line the clothes up so each item does not require two clothes pins, but shares one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.
9. Take clothes off the clothes line by dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket and ready to be ironed. 
10. IRONED? Well that's a whole other post.                            

A big thank you to my long time friend Sue Zaweski for sending this to me. As soon as I read it I knew I had to post it on Moodscapes.