Over the course of my life, I have used about 6 different brands of unscented laundry detergent. I have hung clothing out to dry in the country, in the city and in small towns. My laundry has flapped in stiff breezes and hung limply on calm days. It has baked quickly in the heat of a July afternoon and spent all day getting dry in April or October.

Yet no matter what the weather, the location or the washing method, one thing has remained constant over all these years. The smell. How is it possible that the smell of line dried laundry is always the same? Sunshine is somehow captured in the fibers of the fabric, and try as they might, scientists can never duplicate it. The unique scent is one of the simple joys of living.