Clothes on a Line

Yesterday we did one of my favorite activities: Show and Tell. When people move into retirement communities, they often have to give up many possessions so they can fit into one room or an apartment. I graduated college only a few years ago so I can still imagine fitting all my things into such a space. However I'm sure it will be a different story after 60 years of marriage/family/work/life. The result of condensing houses into small square footage often means people bring with them the essence of their lives and this activity gives them a great chance to talk about some of it. Some of it was painful to talk about but overall we learned how much everyone has in common.

Today I set aside time for door decorations for the month. I want our door decorations to remind people of home and traditions. When I was thinking about July, I remembered the first time I ever put clothes on the line. It was a few years ago when we lived in the country. The smell of our sheets when I brought them in was fresh and unique and has ever since reminded me of summer. Inspired, I gathered some mini craft clothes pins, magazines, embroidery floss, tape, and scissors, and told people to look for some pictures of apparel they liked. While we worked, we talked about our experiences with hanging clothes and how sometimes it froze in winter or the line broke and all the clothes needed to be re-washed. Here are a few: