Right To Dry

 

Let It All Hang Out!

Thanks to the strong support and testimony of Lyman Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store, laundry day here in Vermont is turning into a celebration of sorts as the legislature recently enacted a law giving Vermonters the Right to Dry. No longer can towns or homeowner’s associations prevent residents from putting up clotheslines in order to dry their laundry.

What Does This Mean?

Clotheslines are no longer looked at as eyesores, but as a way for Vermonters to dry their laundry using zero-energy in an effort to reduce energy costs and preserve the environment.

What’s Next?

Put up a clothesline of your own and encourage your neighbors to do the same in order to send a clear message to your state legislators that you too want the Right to Dry.

 

 

THE CLOTHESLINE

A clothesline was a news forecast
to strangers passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
when clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
as neighbors always knew
if company had stopped on by
to spend a night or two.

It's then you'd find the fancy sheets
and towels on the line,
along with linen tablecloths
of intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
to folks who lived inside
when 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 said Gone on vacation now!
when lines hung limp and bare.
It told We're back! when full lines sagged
without an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
if wash was dingy gray
as neighbors raised their brows and looked
disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past
for dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a 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!

-By MARILYN K. WALKER