Laundry Anyone??

Much to the chagrin of parents, children often have more fun playing with the box than the item inside the box. I know as kids we could spend days with a giant box that held the new dishwasher or TV. We'd decorate the boxes with crayons, cut out windows and we'd beg to be allowed to sleep in our new fort. I'm experiencing something similar at the house in Maine. We have a clothes line!!

I've never had a clothes line in my forty plus years on this earth.  Growing up, my friend's mom used one regularly- even used one inside in the winter. Summer vacation rentals had the obligatory metal structure for wet suits and towels which we used. In Maine, our back deck anchors one end of a clothes line, which stretches across the yard to a tree. It was there when we bought the house and I never gave it a second thought. Friends commented on how helpful it would be to hang beach paraphernalia to dry. Whatever.  Then we had a week long heat wave and as you may recall, we don't have AC. I needed to do laundry but really didn't want to add a single degree to the already sweltering first floor. My husband suggested using the clothes line and it was life changing!!! I've always heard people talk about sheets fresh from the line but didn't get it. I do now! The first load dried in no time at all due to the outrageously high temps. I folded each article of clothing as it came off the line- no more laundry basket full of clothes to fold.  After posting my "discovery" on Facebook, friends sent me tips on the best types of clothes pins to get and how to put the clothes on hangers attached to the clothes pin for fewer wrinkles. I can't get enough! I had a blast working through the suitcase of vacation clothes, beach towels and some sheets this afternoon. I must have done four loads of laundry without thinking about it.  I completely understand that this new found laundry joy is going to be a fleeting obsession- I mean, it's laundry after all. By Sunday, I'm sure I'll be over my fascination but I'm going to strike while the irons hot (ironing is NOT life changing, by the way) and wash everything in sight.

Beach Observations

1.  There really is no better place to people watch than the beach. Get yourself settled in and watch the show.  Observe the newly arriving folks selecting a spot- most often they chose their spot based on how tired they are from lugging their stuff from the parking lot.  Watch them set up camp. Exactly how much stuff did they bring? Chairs, towels, umbrellas, sun shelters, water toys and wet suits? What's in their cooler? Are they spray on or lotion sunscreen people? It's amazing how much spray on sunscreen is lost in the breeze. Swimmers or sunbathers? Are they here for the duration or just a quick stop? I'm surprised how many people haul tons of gear to the beach, only to leave an hour later and the whole process starts all over again. It never gets old.

2.  Since when are beach umbrellas a requirement? I'm not complaining, in fact, I'm a fan of beach umbrellas. We spent a lot of time at the beach as kids and there were no umbrellas anywhere in sight. We sat there and baked for hours each day with no relief from the sun.  When we began hitting the beach as adults, the first thing I noticed was that everyone had an umbrella. We picked one up and haven't looked back- it's become a necessity.

3. It's really quiet at the beach.  In the past, one of the key factors that determined where you'd plant yourself for the day was based on who your neighbors were. You didn't want to sit next to the people with the giant radio because odds were they'd be blaring music you hate. Then the guy behind you would try to drown out that music by cranking up his own boom box. Earbuds have eliminated the dueling radios. Teens and adults are listening to iPods and the only sound you hear is the occasional crying baby, laughing child, murmurs of conversations depending on how the wind is blowing, the waves and seagulls.

Funny thing happened to me last weekend while walking the beach by myself. I am passing by a family group- most members sitting down chatting but the Dad and a walking but not talking toddler were  playing with sand toys.  The toddler, a boy, makes eye contact and then he makes a bee line for me. He is grabbing my leg and indicating he wants me to pick him up and get the sand off his hands. Dad is 3 feet away and he and I are laughing at how the child thinks he knows me. He calls to his wife and says, " look at your son.." Everyone in his family laughs but this kid really doesn't want me to leave. He is desperate for me to pick him up and is about to start crying. I manage to break away and resume my walk. He chases after me until his Dad scoops him up and returns him to his toys. The whole thing was extremely cute and then I noticed the little guy was wearing a Yankees t-shirt. Maybe he wanted to be adopted into a Red Sox household???? :)

Simple Pleasures

We all run around at a frantic pace- it's the way of the world these days. I've never been a gardener and house plants in my care are essentially on death row awaiting their execution date. Lately, however, I've taken to spending a few minutes each day with the flowers- not smelling them necessarily, deadheading them.

A few years ago, we did a major overhaul to our backyard, including lots of plants and flowers.  We watered them faithfully and most of them survived. Last summer we got two large hanging baskets along with two large pots of flowers for the steps. I managed to keep those flowers alive well into the fall. I spent 15-20 minutes most nights pulling the faded blooms from the plant. It was oddly therapeutic. This year we replaced the hanging baskets and pots and I find myself out there in the wee hours of the morning plucking the deadheads.

In Maine, we can't keep hanging plants, they require too much water and being here only on the weekends is a recipe for plant disaster.  However, I still manage to get regular doses of plant therapy. We found a seasonal coffee shop that has 3 enormous baskets of petunias hanging out front. On the way in and out, I pull off as many dead flowers as possible- much to my husband's dismay. The young owner of the shop saw me one day and thanked me for helping out. It had been pouring rain for a week and she was afraid the plants were done for. We chatted a bit and she gave me the green light to deadhead the plants to my hearts content. We stopped by today and I was happy to see the flowers were making a spectacular comeback. I could happily spend an hour with those flowers. It's a good thing being at the beach is it's own kind of therapy otherwise I'd be applying for a job as a weekend gardener at the coffee shop.