“We do something kind of weird in the Roer household…”
My husband spoke into the microphone as we introduced a brand-new song we had written. It was Music in the Park, a summer outdoor concert series in our little town, and we had been invited to perform for the crowd of about 50 people. Our setlist consisted almost entirely of covers of love-and-family country-genre songs, but this one we had written together a couple of weeks before the concert.
“We hang our clothes out on a line to dry. Anybody else weird like that? I see… three of you. Okay…”
Line-drying is a practice that has fallen away from most households in the United States. Since we have access to technology that allows us to have soft, clean-smelling, dry-in-an-hour clothing, why bother to take the time to line-dry?
“It doesn’t really save us any money. I’m a math teacher — I’ve calculated it out to maybe save us $10 a year.”
So why do we do it? Line-dried clothes might smell nice to some, but my husband’s allergies beg to differ. If it’s a hot summer day without any wind, our clothes can dry stiff and scratchy. We live in a neighborhood, with our backyard viewable by many houses, so our underwear flapping in the breeze can be a little awkward.
“We do it because it reminds us to slow down. It anchors us at home.”
In our fast-paced culture where it’s common to participate in an activity or event every night of the week, making the conscious choice to stay home and just be is… weird.
We have three kids. They’re involved in sports teams and music. We lead and volunteer in our church. We don’t live our lives saying no to everything; but we do highly value rest, downtime, and white space in the midst of our activities.
When we line-dry our clothes, our family is more likely to hang out together at home (or go somewhere close to home, in case we need to rush back because of a passing rain shower!). Family-time and togetherness is a ritual that is being replaced in our culture just as much as the ritual of line-drying.
How can you build some downtime into your week? Take the time to be instead of do? What will your life look like the next time you experience a “line-dryin’, fine kinda day”?
“The girls have been sick, but they’re on the mend
Maybe we oughta lay low again
Cuddle and read, and play some pretend
It sounds alright to me
Legos and blocks on the living room floor
The girls have moved on, they now play Connect Four
It’s good for them to experience bored
I think it’s gonna be
Another line-dryin’ fine kinda day
With no work to get in our way
It’s a sun-shinin’, tree climbin’, take time to play
It’s a line-dryin’ fine kinda day!”
Read the full lyrics and listen to our very first performance of this song here.
Follow and use the hashtag #linedryinfinekindaday on Instagram (plus my own Stories Highlights of LDFKD).
Find Rocky Roer Music on Facebook, and check out our self-released albums here.
I love this post, Carrie! I raised my kids with lots of down time too. We lived in the country (on purpose) where they only had each other as playmates and we didn’t enroll in every soccer/little league/ballet function. We had limitations, which provided for lots of down time/playtime/bonding time! Sharing this with my Fb family. 🙂
“It anchors us at home.”
Love this! My family is so intentional about guarding our family time as well. It is so precious and fleeting!