The scent of fresh aire............

I do not come from people that used a clothesline. My people were dryer people. Maybe, because both grandparents went to the laundromat for as long as I remember. Its not fun dragging wet clothes home from the laundromat.

But my Mom never used the outside line. We had one ......... but Skipper, the wiener dog, would run up and down our clothesline. Mom would use a line in the basement..........it made sense as the washer was there. No sense of dragging the clothes up the stairs and outside -- only to drag them back inside to put them away.

But I married in to a clothesline family. Of course, I did bring my own clothesline. I discovered the joys of really freshly scented sheets. And I like the effort it takes to lug the basket of wet clothes outside -- to stretch and hang them on the line. And I do not hide my orthopedic underwear between two towels........ for privacy.

So it was with great delight today ........... that I hung clothes out again. I like the hand-knit socks, dancing in the spring air and the sheets and towels, flapping in the breeze. Yes -- it was still somewhat cool. And yes, some things didn't dry by nightfall.

Spring came to Iowa today. Next to melting snow, the white campanula showed its green tinged leaves. And the lady bugs (real ladybugs.......... not those Asian soybean beetles) emerged from their warm beds.

I flung open the windows and let the fresh breeze rush into the house. I stripped the beds of winter bedding and washed it ........... and hung it in the warm sunshine. It went back on the beds ... too early to pack away the flannel sheets and wool blankets.

It is mid-February. We are not done with winter. But for a few days, we see the hope and dreams of a Spring to come. And I am ready.