pam-mentations.com

I’m breaking a period of inactivity. Stay tuned later this week for a new Pam-toon. Yes, it’s in progress.

Today I leave you with a photo from my archives. Laundry hung to dry in a small Italian town.

I have a thing about laundry on the line. It makes me happy. There’s something calming about hanging clothes in the sunshine and watching it flap lightly in the breeze. About shaking out the bugs and other hangers-on to fold it. About self-swaddling with crisp sheets that smell of fresh air. I spent many years hanging my own clothes on the line. And so I have this kind of vicarious experience every time I see others’.

But there’s something else I enjoy about viewing others’ hung laundry. It satisfies a voyeuristic urge, a desire to guess who is hidden behind the walls. Are there indicators of age? Baby clothes, doilies. Employment? Denim, white top/black bottoms, scrubs. Modesty? No undergarments. Sexuality? Scanty panties, padding. Preferences? Monochromatic/riotous, darks/lights, modern/traditional, scratchy/smooth.

And there are so many metaphors to be wrung out from laundry, that can also be aired where others can see.

All this from something so humble and close to our skin.