August 02, 2007

Sheets of Egyptian Cotton

Sundried

The trailheads in the mountains are marked by little brown signs with yellow letters, signs sometimes hidden by the lush summer vegetation. Earlier this week when my husband and I were looking for a trailhead, we got lost and ended up instead in the backyard of a big summer resort. Like many of the resorts in the mountains, the manicured lawns and gazebos and gravel pathways that could be considered the front of the resort face the lake, and if you come by car, you can see people carrying in food, hanging out laundry, and taking care of all the details that the guests take for granted.

I'm used to driving into these places with my parents: my father played at many of these resorts during summers in the 50s, and he will strike up a conversation with anyone who remembers those days. As a former employee, he never hesitates to walk around and take a look. But my husband was seeing some of these resorts for the first time.

"I know what it reminds me of," he said. "The movie Dirty Dancing. It's as if these places are imitating that corny movie."

Of course, it's the other way around. Some of these resorts were built long before that movie, and Hollywood has imitated them. Still, I couldn't help feeling, as I looked at hundreds of white bedsheets hanging in the sunshine, that we had stepped into a movie, or perhaps a bygone era. I've spent years camping in the mountains, in tents that always end up smelling like wet sneakers, and clean cotton sheets that have been hanging all day in the sunshine and mountain breezes seemed like the ultimate luxury.

14 comments:

Kyla said...

Very cool. I never really knew these places existed. In theory maybe, but not in actuality.

Ianqui said...

I've been to one of these places (fairly recently), and it was kind of awful. It was like it hadn't been updated since the 50s.

But what I really wanted to say was that I can't believe they hang out their sheets instead of using a dryer. Good for them! They probably don't even know they're being ecological.

YourFireAnt said...

Oh, ye made my mouth water with that last sentence.

FA

Lorianne said...

I had the exact same reaction as your husband, thinking this looked like the resort in Dirty Dancing. I guess that tells you something about the kind of vacations my family didn't take when I was growing up.

Yankee T said...

And another, and another, and another great photo.

Anonymous said...

I love the photo. And the fact that the sheets are dried outside.

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

Yep, I had the same reaction as ianqui and ppb - hurray for people who still hang out sheets!!

Michael Campbell said...

Those are bedsheets? I thought they were underwear. Blooming beautiful. :-D

Urban Sophisticate Sister said...

corny movie??? gasp! that's only, like, the best movie of all time!

BeachMama said...

I love them! The sheets drying in the sunshine that is. Makes me want an outdoor clothesline even more. Somehow, hanging your sheets inside doesn't seem to give you the same effect.

jo(e) said...

Picky Mick: Well, you know, the first thing I thought was: toga party!

Colleen: Spouse just does not appreciate the movie. I think Jennifer Grey's acting in it is brilliant, a wonderful portrayal of an adolescent girl and her emotions. Of course, the plot is kind of lame ....

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

Picky Mick, I shudder to think what your underwear drawer looks like.

jo(e) said...

Oh, now we are talking about Picky Mick's underwear drawer? How the standards on this blog have fallen.

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

Hey, there was a time when women would do just about anything to get in his drawers. That was before he started wearing baggy white sheets for underwear, though.