On this crisp, sunny

On this crisp, sunny morning, the woman across the way is hanging out her laundry.

Her first action is to wipe the city grime from the laundry poles. She lifts the pole down at one end and her hand sweeps along its length. This looks more like ballet than a household chore.

In the laundry room, the housewife clipped sock and undergarments to the plastic relative of an octopus. These are now hung on the ends of one of the poles.

Then the real fun begins. She pulls the freshly laundered clothes from a basket with a flick of her wrist. With well-practiced grace and speed, she threads pants and shirts onto the poles. Shirts, crucified for cleanliness, are given a little tug to bring them into line. Pants skewered from waist to ankle are smoothed before she turns to the next item in the basket.

Now she walks through the rows of poles, inspecting her work and adding blue and pink plastic clothespins to shirt collars and readjusting anything that's come out of plumb. Then it's back inside and downstairs to make breakfast.

Me? I'm going to go have some coffee and throw some clothes in the dryer.