The Secret Life of Clothes Lines

This morning I went up on the roof early to hang up some summer blankets that need to be bagged and stowed. Since it promises to be a cold and cloudy day, the clothes lines are deserted and looking limp and forlorn in this colorless morning.

From a distance, some odd shapes caught my attention. Dangling from a clothes line are three objects that look too large to be socks, but seem more in line with what experiences tell me to be fish. I rub my eyes, lest I've wandered into a Dr. Seuss book. Upon closer inspection, they are, of course, one hundred percent, authentic fish.

After two years, you think you have gotten to know everything there is to know about your clothes lines. Then one morning you discover that, all along, these boring, innocent-looking strings have been leading a double life, which has nothing to do with laundry. I don't think I will ever look at them the same way again.