Clothesline Poles and Other Memories

Remembering Mom's Clothesline

There is one thing that's left out.
We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up
so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.
I can hear my mother now...

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: (If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes -
walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites,"
and hang them first.

5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!
What would the neighbors think?

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend,
or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could
hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes!
Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item
did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket,
and ready to be ironed.  IRONED??!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!

To all our kids, nieces, and nephews,

  On the rez you can still see clotheslines in use or the wet clothes are laid across the fence or bushes in the yard.  

  This email brought back lots of memories actually, especially since Grandpa Lewellyn built and sold clothesline poles.  Our job was to paint the clothes poles and the swing sets he made.  If we missed a spot, he would simply say there was a "holiday".  We all knew what that meant.

  Clothes were hung exactly like they describe, but I did not see anything about hanging your "undies"  on the inside lines. ;o}

  To this day I still love the smell of line dried cotton shirts, sheets, and even the scratchy feeling of line dried towels.  The smell reminds me of Grandpa.

  All of you would have loved the swing sets he built.  There was always the glider on one end and the  2 swings.  You could hang upside down on the cross bar at the end.  

  He would take us with him on Christmas Eve to help set up a swing set from Santa.  I remember how fun that was.  I don't remember putting up clothesline poles on Christmas Eve, but I am sure any woman would have loved the thoughtfulness of her husband for getting her one.  LOL  The truth of the matter is that I think she actually would have loved it.

  Dad used galvanized wire, so the lines never rusted, but you did have to run a damp cloth over the line before you hung the clothes, or they had little gray marks where the clothes pins were placed.  You did hang the same items together or at least those of us with COD issues did.  Then of course you had to iron all the things that needed ironing, which was a lot of them.

  I remember Grandma, Verlee, saving all the ironing for me to do when I came home on the weekends after I moved away for college.  Grandpa would not wear a shirt that had not been ironed.  He would go out and buy one.  He always wore flannel shirts.  I would spend 2 days ironing.  The best part of it was I loved to iron, so it worked out well.  To this day I like ironing line dried clothes, but I don't get to do it much anymore.  Ironing gave you lots of time to think about things, maybe that is why I loved it so much.

  This is actually a small part of your family history, so I hope you will print it and add it to your collection of the things I know you are preserving for your own kids.

Love,

Aunt Elaine

I just needed to be somewhere.

We only had one patron come into night.  We asked if she was here to do family history and she said, "No, I just needed be somewhere."  Sister Norris and I smiled at each other and visited for a few minutes.

  We started talking about her family tree and how important it is that she get started.  I asked if she could type and she smiled, so that was a nice way of saying she did not type.  I told that I did and she could sit by me.  She hesitated a minute, but came over.

  We had 55 names on her tree when she looked at the clock and said, "Is it really 6?  I have to get up early and work tomorrow."  Then she remembered a few more names including her brothers and sisters and her half brothers and sisters, which we had not entered..  She sat down again and we entered them.  She now has 67 names and plans to get spouses and children for the ones we entered tonight.

  When she did finally leave she said, "I guess there was a reason I needed to be somewhere  tonight."

Baptisms and Family History Fun

  On Saturday Kyle and Shaylyn Nockideneh will be baptized.  While each was being interviewed the others were creating a family tree.  Sandra. Kyle and Shayln's mom,  was working on the file when two other relatives wandered by and were invited to help out with what they knew. 

 It was so fun.  They were making phone calls and asking for birth dates and death dates and the folks were sharing everything they asked for, it was awesome. They entered 34 names and Shaylyn has 4 generations on her pedigree chart.

The Elders did a mini lesson on the importance of family history and shared several scriptures with Sandra and Shaylyn and what they needed to do to in order to take some of their ancestors to the Temple in March.  They were both excited about that.  The other two ladies were just excited to see the tree growing.

  Around 7 Sandra remembered that they had planned to go to the Provident Living class on budgeting money, so they finished one more name and slipped off to class.

  Sandra has some funeral programs at home and she plans to bring them in and add more names and dates.  I know the pictures show just a few people, but there were several unseen ancestors encouraging from beyond the veil in there also.

Sister Olson

Christmas Vacation December 2013

Sometimes it is really impossible to put into words what you think and feel about an experience you go through,  and the older I get the more that seems to happen.

We wanted to see our kids over the holidays.  When we talked about serving a mission, Ronnie drug his feet just a little thinking about all the meetings which required sitting for long periods of time and knocking on doors in some strange place, perhaps in another part of the world.

He had gone to Jackson for a couple of days and I was sitting in the living room thinking about a mission, where they might send us, and what it would entail.  For some unknown reason I decided to go to the church website that Bishop Lamb referred to as their “Wish List.”

As I fumbled through the “Click here” buttons I found the “Wish List” and began scrolling through the pages of where missionaries were needed.  On the third page there was a small little paragraph that said Hopi & Navajo Gardening and Self-Reliance Project.  It went something like this.  We need someone who can build fences, garden and it would be good if one of the couple could do family history.  I know the wording was a little different, but that’s what comes to mind. It also gave a contact name and phone number.

I called the number listed and a voice said, “This is Larry.”  I was a little taken back and asked if I was speaking to President Justice.  He said, yes it was and he was just leaving the post office.  I think he said he would call me back when he got to his office or something like that.  A while later the phone rang and I answered it.  We visited for quite a while and he explained what the project actually was and what was needed to  come and serve in the Tuba City Stake.

They did need someone who could build fences and help the people put in a 30x30 garden helping them become more self-reliant.  The fact that I had done family history was wonderful.  After I shared our story of meeting on the ‘rez’  accepting the gospel, being baptized, marrying the missionary who taught me the gospel, and wanting to serve a mission, all became frosting on the cake. ;o}

We talked for a long time, both asking questions and wondering if things would come together, so serving would be possible.  I then called Ronnie and told him what had happened and wondered if he would consider serving a “Service Mission” in the last area he served as a young Elder.  I could hear the change in his concerns about serving when he asked how soon we could go.

We intended to serve 8 months, so we could see how the boys would do at home on their own.  Well, in March we will hit the 3 year mark.  We did serve 10 months as service missionaries, and then became the first missionaries in the church to change over to MLS Missionary status(Member Leadership Support) missionaries in Jan 2012.  That mission will be over 14 Feb 2014, just about a month from now.

When we were home for Christmas, our Bishop set us apart for our third mission which will start Feb 15, 2014.  Our intent is to serve another season, which would make our exit date Oct 2014.

We feel good about what we can do to serve the people here and have grown to love them very much. It is like coming home to family.  We feel useful and needed.

When I started this entry it was not to speak about that, but to write about our trip to see our kids and grandkids.

Alex Bown, my sister Judy’s grandson, got married 21 Dec 2013 in the Draper Temple which we were able to attend.  It was a wonderful wedding and a wonderful day with family and friends.

The best part of the trip was spending time with our own kids and grandkids who are growing very fast and maturing in their understanding of the gospel.  It is wonderful to watch your children become parents and raise their own children.  You seem to grow closer as you watch them with their children who are becoming young adults, and the “little ones” with all their innocence and laughter that comes so freely.  Then there are the babies,  with few teeth, and little hair that remind you of those moments with your own babies and how much you loved them and wanted to protect them from the evils of the world, but no matter what you did they still had to face many battles on their own.  You prayed that you had taught them well and helped prepare them for the things they would eventually have to face on their own.  You prayed for strength and patience, wisdom and compassion, courage and faith, not just for them but for yourselves, so that you would not fail them.

To each of our children we want you to know how much we love and appreciate what you are doing for your children who have been entrusted to your care by a loving Heavenly Father who knows each of you and each of the children He has sent to you.  We cannot know all the things we will face in mortality, nor would we want to most days.  We do know that He will give us whatever it is that we need to give them so that they too will be as prepared as they can be when they stand alone to face the challenges that will come their way.

A parent’s love is unconditional.  I know how much we love you and it is hard sometimes to see what is happening in the world that surrounds us and what our grandchildren have to face.  In the same respect we also face this knowing that these times would come and the most noble spirits were reserved to come forth at this time.  They are better prepared for what is coming, they are the most valiant and are equal to the tasks that they will face.

We pray for you each day and thank God for the many good things you are doing and for the strong people you are becoming.  We love you and miss you .

Love,

Mom