My Hawaiian Life, part 2

My house came into my possession somewhat equipped with basic appliances--stove/oven, refrigerator, and microwave--but I purchased a washer and dryer the first week I actually took up residence because laundromats are not places I prefer to frequent on a regular basis for weeks or months or years. In support of that preference, I have experienced a 4-year stint with laundromats once in my life (and I'm not even talking about the kind in the basement of a college dorm or apartment complex, something I've also done) Although there are some fun stories to accompany that four-year stint, I do consciously choose to have laundry facilities in my home whenever possible.

My dryer is electric--something worth noting here because electricity in Hawaii is expensive, and electric clothes dryers rank high on electricity consumption. Early on in my Hawaiian life, I noticed that many homes had clotheslines of various sorts and manufacture in the yard, in the carport, across the lanai, under the eaves. Last summer my "home improvements" included having a clothes line installed on the back lanai.

When I was a little girl, my mother did not have a dryer. I remember her hanging laundry to dry on a clothesline and that she had strategies and techniques to employ in that endeavor: one item of clothing shared a clothespin with the item next to it to conserve clothespins and line space, and underclothing hid in the interior of the clothesline configuration, concealed from perusal by neighbors and/or the public. Before my family had a dryer, if it arrived on the scene when we still lived in Colorado, I was nine or ten. I recall the clothesline in the backyard of the Colorado home and asking my mom why all the undies hung in a certain section--hence, that explanation! If the first dryer actually happened when we lived in New Jersey, well, then I was eleven. But after the first dryer, we always had both a washer and a dryer in our home. One time when I was in high school and we lived in Utah, I remember folding clothes with my mom and she told me how much easier laundry was with a dryer and that things like towels felt nicer when dried in a dryer than when line-dried, but not bed sheets; line-dried sheets were the best.

I have had clothespins in my possession at least since I was married, and I've carried them with me to maybe ten different places of residence across four countries and three continents, but I have never had a clothesline. Until now. Granted, I have purchased a few more clothespins to add to my collection now that I hang clothes on a line in real life on a regular basis. But until my Hawaiian life, I don't believe I ever envisioned myself routinely doing laundry using a clothesline.

My dryer is still employed, just not as often. Towels, for instance, are truly better when dried in a dryer--softer and fluffier. And occasionally a speedy dry-time becomes essential for some scenario or another. My mom was right, though. Line-dried sheets are the best; they have a certain crispness to them that no dryer can achieve.

I suspect my mom found doing laundry that entailed the use of a clothesline for drying purposes for a family that included multiple children quite labor intensive. Also, when there was a baby, she used cloth diapers as well! I, on the other hand--and there is just me--quite enjoy the hanging out and bringing in of clothes that dry on a line. I like breathing in the scent of freshly washed laundry, designing the line-up for each row, being enveloped in between two parallel planes of strung-up laundry, and reopening memories tucked away from long ago.


NOTE: Depending on the month, my electricity bill is $10-$15 cheaper than it was before I had a clothesline.