Clothesline controversyPeople across the country are returning to a device that not too many decades ago was commonplace: the clothesline. Many of us remember sheets, pillowcases and clothing ruffling in the breeze. And we remember that no one thought anything of it. Today it is different. As people return to this simple, green method of drying, exclamations of ÒeyesoreÓ and Òlowering our property valuesÓ are coming from neighbors and homeowners associations. Newspapers across the country, including The Oregonian, have written extensively about the controversy. The paper, which covers the Portland area, addressed the core of the issue in June. ÒIn thousands of Oregon neighborhoods and condo buildings, covenants and other rules ban clotheslines, even from private back yards. Homeowners using clotheslines face threatening letters (Law) letters containing threats, especially those designed to extort money, or to obtain other property, by menaces; blackmailing letters. See also: Threatening from their homeowners associations and potential fines — not to mention simmering tension with neighbors who consider hanging clothes an eyesore eye·sore n. Something, such as a distressed building, that is unpleasant or offensive to view. eyesore Noun something very ugly Noun 1. or an emblem of poverty.Ó That was typical of what is being written across the country. Fortunately, as The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times reported this week, states are intervening on behalf of those who have rediscovered the clothesline. Florida, Utah, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont have passed laws overriding the anti-clothesline rules of homeowners associations, and the legislatures of Maryland, North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , Oregon and Virginia are considering such laws, the Times reported. The Times also noted that a British filmmaker, Steven Lake, is planning to release a documentary — ÒDrying for FreedomÓ — next spring. ÒIt seems like such a mundane thing,Ó Lake said. ÒAnd yet it draws in all these questions about individual rights, private property, class, aesthetics aesthetics (ĕsthĕt`ĭks), the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the nature of art and the criteria of artistic judgment. , the environment ..Ó That anyone would raise a stink Verb 1. raise a stink - take strong and forceful action, as to object or express discontent; "She raised hell when she found out that she wold not be hired again" make a stink, raise hell about clean clothes drying in the open air strikes us as absurd. Aside from saving money and energy, clothes dried by the wind and sun have a pleasantly scented, fresh feel. Those yelling yell v. yelled, yell·ing, yells v.intr. To cry out loudly, as in pain, fright, surprise, or enthusiasm. v.tr. To utter or express with a loud cry. See Synonyms at shout. n. Òeyesore!Ó should try it. Maybe then theyÕd be in a better mood and stop with their silly arguments. 
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