Wash Day

old house

Sam reached up and pulled the clothesline closer so he could reach the pins holding his underwear. He squinted at the sun, as he slipped the pins into a bag he had fashioned around his shoulder.

 Intent on his task he ignored the massive, Clematis blooming along the edge of the deck, no more than a few feet from the clothes line.

 Sam’s arms were filled with his fleshly dried laundry. He reached up and slid his hand across the line as he walked towards the steps. He pulled off one last pin and dropped it into his bag. Two bees buzzed around his hands then tried to land on his shirt. “Off!  Rose! Your bees are bugging me!”

His wife appeared at the door holding it open as he stepped quickly into the kitchen.

She reached up and stroked his stubbly cheek. “They just like the smell of your aftershave.”  

“Damn woman!” Sam’s eyes sparkled and he bent slightly forward biting at her hand as it slid off his face.  “My aftershave isn’t on my hands.”

 Rose laughed out loud, then reached around Sam and pulled the screen door shut. “Sure is!  How else did you put it on?”  She reopened the door and shooed out one bee that got caught inside.

“I put the towels back in the bathroom and folded the rest up, and stacked them in the linen closet.” Rose followed Sam into the bedroom, were he dumped the clean clothing on the bed. Sam slipped the cloths pin bag off his arm and immediately opened the closet door, and placed it on the top shelf.  Rose grabbed her sweat pants from the bed, shook them slightly, folded and set them on the bed as she picked up the matching shirt. She continued the process until all the clothing, except for one lone hand towel, was folded and placed on a pile to be put away.

“One day we’ll have to get a drier.” Sam spoke as she opened the lower drawer in his High Boy.

“I will miss our time together, if we buy one.” Rose gave Sam a sideways glance and puppy dog eyes.  “This is so much more personal than standing over a hot metal box.”

“A clothes drier would be great in the winter. It’ll keep us toasty.” Sam’s eyebrows rose along with his mustache. 

Rose picked up a stiff hand towel from the bed; carefully she folded it in half.  “Well, maybe soft towels would be nice for a change.”

“See! Soft underwear, too!  What a treat!”  Sam frowned, staring at the bed covers. “Hold on Rose. One of your bees is in our bed.” He carefully picked up the fuzzy bee between his index finger and thumb and held it out to Rose. She in turn held out her hand palm up to Sam. “Give him to me.”

Sam set the wiggling bee in the center of her hand and watched Rose walk out of the room talking to her hand.

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