Washer Woman, Washer Woman Won't You Put Out the Wash?

White towels hang neatly in rows. They catch the breezes and flutter gently.  The sunrise lights them with an orange glow…

I never was much of a laundry lover... (some folks take so much enjoyment in it)…  that is, until I started doing laundry outdoors in Topanga Canyon! 

My little wooden house came with an outdoor water hook up, not an indoor one.  So, I bought a washer/dryer and set it up.  It wasn’t long, maybe a year or two, before the dryer broke, likely from being outside in all kinds of weather.. including rain.  No matter: I had a clothesline!  That is much more fun anyway.  No need to replace a dryer, just to have it break again, I thought. 

Now, I take my time hanging up the clothes, pausing to feel the sun on my face, or take a glance at a new rose bloom.  My sheets smell like the Canyon, not like some generic perfume smell.  How neat is that?  Now doing laundry is a welcome excuse to spend just that extra bit of time outdoors and drag me away from the computer.

When my mom came out for a visit, the first time, I said she could use my washer if she needed to.  Say no more:  Mom was hooked.  Suddenly, she had to wash her & my dad’s suitcase-size load of clothes seemingly every other day! 

Next, my sister got jealous and during a remodel jumped at the chance to move her W&D outdoors, too!  Now here is a woman that has always looked forward to washing clothes for her family.  Still, she hasn’t moved up that one more step to ditching the dryer altogether.  I can appreciate that.. it IS a hassle in winter trying to plan laundry loads between rainstorms!

Using the clothesline instead of a dryer: what a great way to conserve electricity.  I use the sun instead; we have plenty of it after all in Southern California.  In case you wondered about the laundry water run-off, not to worry, my green, eco-minded friends.  I can use the gray water on fruit trees with no negative impact on the native plants.  (Of course, you have to use organic soap to make this work out.)  So, my laundry does not interfere with any of the natural ebb & flow of life in the Canyon for either the plants or the critters who share my yard with me.

Okay, so there is a down side to outdoor laundry in Topanga Canyon... Here come the Santa Ana winds and then, where are my socks? Blown all amongst the cactus and succulents on the hillside.  Okay, who is going to go down there & collect them?

I walk between the rows of white towels, and they make me smile.

An Aloe From Louise

Aloe, sweet aloe, you are such a healthful plant, so full of life-giving medicinal nectar.  Aloe can alleviate pain from bug bites, help heal cuts, or give your face a soft glow...  And so, it is only fitting that my aloe plant should be my mother-in-law's plant.  Louise died of cancer just months after I met her, even though she had lived a very healthful life.  She ran every day, always ate at the salad bar when she went to restaurants, took her vitamins, and tended her roses in a sunny community garden.  She neither drank nor smoked, yet lung cancer claimed her anyway.  Louise was a beautiful spirit, her bright blue eyes full of life.. cut too short.

Louise's husband brought us the aloe plant she had been growing outside the front door of her Laguna Beach condo.  I accepted it into my Topanga garden readily, happy to have a piece of her garden, one of her plants, here with us.  At first, I wasn't sure where I wanted to put it, so I left it out front near my door in its wooden bucket.  Weeks passed, okay maybe months, and still it sat.  But it looked pretty, so I left it.  Until .. one day I realized it was "not to be moved"! The aloe's roots had broken through the bucket's wood bottom and rooted the plant firmly into the soil, just where it was!  So it remains many years later. A much larger version of Louise's aloe in a pot.

Every time I walk out my front door and see that aloe, I think of Louise.  I feel her presence reminding me to stay healthy, and keep her son healthy and happy, too. 

(Presently, I am trying to think of a way to transport a cutting of this magnificent plant to my sister-in-law in Portland, without killing it.  Any suggestions are welcome.)

Bees & Agave

Everyone's been wondering where all the Bees have gone.
Not to worry: they are all here enjoying the Agave's blossoms!

Sedum Brings Color Every September

Every September, I look forward to my Sedum blooming faithfully on my deck. It blooms only once annually and always in September. How does it know? It is a welcome first sign of Autumn at my Topanga home when I see the red blooms, every year.