Garden Garments

Crisp white and brightly colored streamers flap in the breeze, imbued with the scents of wind and sunshine – a testament to the glory of the day and human ingenuity.

No, I am not talking about Carp streamers, though there are a lot of those about, I am talking about clotheslines. You can’t go anywhere in Japan and not see clotheslines running on all of the balconies and in all of the yards in any weather. Masters of recycling and energy efficiency that they are, the Japanese find every way to stretch the resources of this tiny island. I use my clothesline every nice day. I love the idea that I can hang the clothes out and come back in a few hours to a completely dry load of laundry – not a single watt spent for the same effect! And, it is less wear and tear on your clothes. I know, clotheslines are NOT a new idea. It just seems to me that most Western peoples are getting away from using them. Most gaijin here don’t use them; they say the pollution is bad. I haven’t really noticed the pollution too much – not like when I was a kid anyway. I remember taking summertime cross-country trips with my Dad in his big white Impala (he called it snowflake). Big cities like Chicago and Cincinnati were just huge yellow mountains in the distance. The smog was so bad you couldn’t even make out the skyline. In recent years I haven’t noticed that so much. Perhaps I have learned to ignore it? I don’t think so; I think it’s gotten better. My clothes don’t seem to be effected at all – they are still dry.

To remove grass stains from clothing use methylated spirits then wash or apply a paste of salt or cream of tartar, let it dry and brush off.

Have a great day!!