A common contraption we all remember fondly.

Years ago everyone had one in their yard, some were more attractive than others, but they are utilitarian pieces so looks wasn't significant.  Want to guess about the subject of this column?
 
Well, the contraption has been replaced in most households by the clothes dryer.  Nanny had a clothesline at every residence she occupied, it might not have been modern but it was serviceable, and in her opinion, a necessary household apparatus. 
 
Her model was fashioned with tightly strung cord and she refused to use plastic pins, hers were wooden models that looked like stick figures.  She preferred wooden ones because it didn't harm or stain the material like the ones containing metal parts.   
  
If you haven't slept on sheets that were naturally dried then you will never understand why anyone chooses to hang items on a clothesline rather than use a fashionable dryer.  If you have experienced the smell of clothes dried in the sunshine then you understand the reasoning. 
 
Hanging out clothes was an activity Nanny enjoyed, and she encouraged us to follow her example; adhere to a few simple rules and create a display that will collect compliments instead of complaints. 
 
Yes you skeptics, there is protocol involved in hanging out clothes.  Nanny insisted on three lines of cording because she wisely hung specific items on the inside area where they weren't exposed to prying eyes.  When the outside lines were filled with large pieces, she positioned the unmentionable belongings on the inside line. 
 
Every bed-sheet was hung together, followed by the towels and then the washcloths.  On the far rack was clothing, male, female and then children; pants, shirts and socks, all in a row and sorted together. 
 
A glimpse of snow-white sheets flapping in the wind brings back vivid memories of country blue skies filled with billowing clouds, next to a farmhouse that overflowed with warm affection. 
 

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