Airing Out the Laundry

When I was growing up in the burbs of Massachusetts, it was a common sight to see metal swing sets in the back yard.  I know we had one and spent hours playing on it, pumping our little legs in hopes of reaching the sky. Our Mom would hand us sheets of waxed paper for the metal slide. We would vigorously rub the metal till we deemed it slippery, taking turns running up the steps and speeding to the ground, sometimes landing on our bottom!

I also recall a grey aluminum monstrosity that resembled a tree in some of the yards on our street. It was an outdoor dryer used for hanging wet laundry. We did not have one in our backyard for my mother thought they were quite an eyesore. In fact she said they were downright ugly. I did not see what the big deal was because they were a source of amusement for us because you could spin them around and around...

Years later when I mentioned the old-fashioned dryer contraption to my husband, he had no idea what I was talking about. He grew up in Brooklyn, and lived in an apartment. His mother would hang laundry out to dry on a clothesline  attached to a pole in the backyard to  the next building. 
I grew up with a washer and dryer in my house until I moved to an apartment in Queens, New York. I had the not so pleasant experience of going to laundromats.  When we moved out to Long Island, it was a joy to have a laundry room of my own!  

 A couple of years ago Tom had an idea. Why not string up a nylon laundry rope from tree to tree in the backyard where the kids swing set used to be? I agreed because it was not in plain view since it was in the corner of the backyard. Besides conserving energy for the environment , we would be saving money from the evil  bloodsucking Long Island Lighting Co.( LILCO)during the warmer months.  Oh, and  what a treat it is to gather  fresh laundry dried by the sun and wind from a clothesline in my backyard.

It seems everything came full circle, right down to getting our kids a traditional metal swing set similar to the one I played on as a kid in the backyard.  We purchased a swing set when Marissa was two. Here is a photo of  five year old Marissa, and Justin, age two having a grand ole time before dinnertime.

Of course Justin wanted to be just like his big sister and loved the slide.I got such a kick out of it because it brought back great childhood memories of my own.

Even though wooden swing sets were becoming popular, we decided to take the metal one with us when we moved to a larger home five miles away.  The kids continued playing on the swing set during every season, running out back even when there was snow on the ground. 

Taking a break from swimming in the pool, and playing on the glider...

So many old-fashioned traditions from  the late 1960's are considered retro today, but I see many as common sense, and unlike my Mom, I will continue to air out the laundry in a corner of the yard where our kids once played.  ;)