laundry line

Minutes after I get back to my guest house I hear drops of rain falling
on the iron roofs of the shanty houses nearby, tip-tapping and first and
then it began to fall harder. I looked out the window and saw women
darting into their yards to grab laundry hanging on the lines outside.
They didn't carry laundry baskets and there was no need to collect
clothes pins since the clothes were simply draped over the line. The
women swung half a shirt or the legs of a pair of pants up and over the
line and caught the items in one arm before dashing back into their homes.