This Old Wives Tale Isn't True
When I was young Mom had a wringer washing machine and dryers hadn't been invented yet. Everyone hung their clothes on a line to dry, and that line was normally inside. When it was overcast and the sky was full of clouds, it might mean rain was coming, but maybe not. I grew up, after all, in Los Angeles County in "sunny California."
So when the clothes were ready to hang, Mom would look up at the cloudy sky, as her mother had before her. Then she would say, "I can hang out the clothes. There's enough blue in the sky to make a Dutchman a pair of pants." Today I scientifically proved that's not true. The photo above shows how the sky looked when I left to walk to my mailbox today. I didn't have any clothes to hang out, nor any line to hang them on.
About halfway down the block, I stopped to take this photo. I'm sure glad I'd brought my camera bag. I'd brought it along to put my camera in when I had to use the key to open my mailbox. As it turned out, my camera might have been damaged without it. I took a few photos of the sky in different directions.
About then I noticed that raindrops were falling on my head and all around me. It wasn't heavy rain, but I would not have wanted my clothes on the line. Now, an hour later, the sky is as blue as when I started my short walk.The blue had never left the sky at all. There is a slight breeze. There are still many clouds, but they are moving toward the northwest. The sun comes and goes. It will be down in three hours.
If I had hung the laundry on the line, would it have dried today? I doubt it. But the sidewalk is dry again, at least for now. There's still a 5% chance of rain for the rest of the afternoon. The temperature has reached its high of 49 degrees.
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| Blue Sky with White Clouds, © B. Radisavljevic |
So, do you think if I'd had clothes to hang out when I left on my walk, they would have dried before dark?
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