Washer and

No dryer. They go together. Washers and dryers that is. They sometimes even have there own special little room (we quaintly call the one at our house "the laundry room") but often they sit in a lonely corner of the garage. These modern machines take care of much of the labor of clothes washing. I don't know about you, but I like my clothes clean, especially when I wear them. Now, I'm no fashion plate, and even most of the wardrobe I wear to work consists of near rags, but I can always say "at least they're clean!"

The other day, when going to turn on the dryer, I experienced the terrible sound of a buzz but nothing else. The dryer was broken! Maybe something minor, but without funds to call the repairman, my mind immediately went into solution mode. Ah, I'll get some clothesline and pins and set up my own free drying system in the backyard! That's the way my mom did it in my infancy, and my grandmothers too (though I wasn't in my infancy when they were drying clothes that way).

So, blessing in disguise (for the earth, that is)? I'm reducing my carbon footprint and saving money. The only thing I'll miss is those nice warm clothes fresh out of the dryer.


Besides, I might enjoy this. As this Amazon product description says: Nobody will argue that a clothes dryer is a wonderful convenience, especially in winter or on rainy days. But we're hard pressed to come up with something that smells more glorious than fresh laundry dried in the sun and breeze. And free drying power can't be beat.