In those days, the clotheslines stretched behind every home, and linens swayed in the spring breeze like colorful kites. I often carried the bag of wooden clothespins and walked behind my mother, handing her the pins as she hung out freshly laundered towels and T-shirts. When the laundry had soaked up the sunlight, I helped fold the items neatly into wicker baskets. They smelled so fresh and clean of summer sky and fresh air and sunshine.

My favorite task was hanging out the sheets. I walked between those cool, damp cotton corridors believing that I had gained passage into a mythical world of fairies and princesses or knights and dragons. I imagined that I could visit the fantasy lands of my story books filled with outlandish characters and talking animals.

If only we could hold on to those imaginative worlds of childhood, when we found joy and wonder in the simplest of tasks.

Deana Johnson, Laurinburg, a member of Lumbee River EMC