Adventures With Three Girls

Earlier this summer, I posted about how I was going to stop using laundry detergent.  Since, apparently, just the mechanical action of the washing machine is enough to get all but the dirtiest laundry clean.  Detergent isn’t even necessary.

Well, I stopped.  Cold turkey.  (Except for cloth diapers.  I felt those qualified as really dirty.)  That was back in May.  I’m still not using laundry detergent for the most part.   It seems to work just fine.  My clothes don’t smell.  At all.  No detergent smell even.

I haven’t had any increase in the stains in my clothes.  I had some stains that didn’t come out with detergent, and there are some that don’t come out still, but no difference.  In fact, I’m more diligent about rinsing my clothes with water as soon as something spills on them now.

The only thing I have started using detergent on again are my kitchen towels, which are generally washed with my other towels.  I use my kitchen towels to wipe up food and spills and clean the table in the kitchen.  They get pretty dirty (ok, filthy).  I found without detergent they were starting to smell.  So, for me, kitchen towels fall into the heavily soiled category of laundry that needs detergent.

I definitely plan on continuing.   Not only is it green not to put anything down the drain, it saves money not having to buy or make laundry detergent.  Win-win.

Do you use laundry detergent?  Ever considered not?  Do you think I’m crazy? (It’s ok, I get that sometimes. ).

It’s Friday, time for the Red Writing Hood meme hosted by the Red Dress Club.  This week’s prompt:

An art opening at a lavish downtown gallery. A car crashes through the plate glass window. The driver’s door opens, and an eight-year-old girl steps out.

So, this is what I came up with.  I’m not sure if it was quite exactly what the prompt was asking for, but it’s a writing prompt, and this is what it prompted from me.  Critiques are welcome and appreciated.

Those Eyes

Maggie stood in front of the painting, holding a skinny glass of bubbling champagne.  A little girl stared back at her.  Her stringy hair clung to her face.  Her bony shoulders were bare, her clavicle protruding sharply.  Done in muted grays, blues, and purples, the little girl appeared faded. Except those eyes.  Maggie couldn’t stop looking at them.  They were a beautiful hazel with flecks of gold, so alive, as though they could see her.

A hand touched the small of her back and she startled, splashing a little champagne on the floor.

“Do you like it,” a deep voice whispered close to her ear.

Maggie turned to see a tall man with well coifed dark hair, piercing blue eyes, and a strong chin smiling at her.  She gasped.  Tom Morgan, the artist, was talking to her.

“I love it,” she gushed.  “Her eyes, they’re so, so real. Really beautiful.  Your work is amazing.”

“Thank you,” he said with a slight upturn of his mouth.  “I’m Tom, but I believe you already know that.  What’s your name?”

“Maggie, Maggie Downs.”

“Well, Maggie Downs, would you mind if I accompanied you around for a while.  I enjoy seeing how other people, especially beautiful women, experience my paintings.”

Maggie blushed and took a sip of champagne.

“I would love it,” she said.

They turned away from the painting.  Maggie looked around the gallery.  There had been a good turn out tonight.  People stood, mostly as couples, looking at the paintings.  Waiters wove masterfully between people with trays of champagne glasses and hors d’oeuvres. Clinking glasses and hushed voices were the only noise.

Those eyes stared at her from all over.  Every painting in the exhibit was of the same girl.  All done in the same muted tones with the exception of the eyes, those haunting eyes.

He guided her to a painting where the girl sat with her arms wrapped around her bent knees.  Her head rested on her knees, hair spilling down her shins.  She stared at Maggie.

Tom watched her taking in the painting.  She walked from one side to the other, looking at it from all angles.

“Just amazing.  Those eyes, I just can’t get over them.  They’re like photographs,” she said.

“I think the eyes are the most telling feature of a person,” he said.  “What do her eyes say to you?”

“She looks sad, lonely maybe?  And so old.  She’s an old soul, I think.”

Tom smiled.  “Yes, I think so too.  Children often know more of the world than adults.”

He led her to another painting.  In this one, she stood in silhouette, a gauzy dress hung straight to her knees.  Her head was bent down.  She glanced sideways, eyes soft and dreamy.

“I’ve been to your other exhibits,” Maggie said. “In fact, I own a couple of your other paintings.  I have one of the blue eyed girl and one of the green eyed girl.”

“I know,” he said. “I’ve seen you before.  I just haven’t had the nerve to talk to you until tonight.”

She blushed again and played with the thin gold chain around her neck.

“You always have just one girl,” she said.  “Do you know them?  Your subjects, I mean.”

“No,” he said. “They’re not real.  Just figments of my imagination.”

He led her to another painting.  In this one she stood with her arms across her chest, looking straight ahead, eyes slit a little.

“She looks angry with you here,” Maggie said.

Tom laughed.

“She is.  Sometimes they get angry with me.  I’m painting and I can tell they’re angry with something I’ve done.  I don’t know what it is, but I see their anger,” he said.  “You must think it’s strange that my imaginary subjects have emotions.”  He looked down at his feet.

“Not at all,” she said quickly.  “You must spend hours focusing on them, drawing them, painting them.  I can imagine how they would seem real after a while.”

Maggie took a step closer to him.  She could smell his soap and feel the warmth of his skin.  She looked into his eyes.

Suddenly, glass shattered and people screamed. A black sedan crashed through the plate glass window of the gallery, careening into the middle of the room before coming to a stop.

Tom dashed toward the car.  Maggie followed as fast as she could in her black stilettos.

The driver’s door opened and out stepped a little girl.

Tom ran up to her and tried to wrap her in his jacket.

“No!” she screamed.  “Someone help me!”

She pushed and punched at Tom, arms flailing.

Maggie ran up and grabbed her arms.  The girl fell into her, sobbing, almost knocking Maggie off her feet.

“Hush, hush,” Maggie said, smoothing her dirty hair and holding her close.  “Are you okay?  What happened?”

The girl pulled back a little and wiped her face with her hands.  She looked up and Maggie saw those eyes staring at her.

A couple weeks ago I hosted a Healthy Home Party sponsored by Healthy Child Healthy World.  The idea behind the parties is to raise awareness about chemicals and toxin exposures in the environment and what can be done to minimize those exposures in children.   We may not be able to eliminate all the toxic exposures our kids receive because they go out into the world where toxins  abound, but we can control what they are exposed to in our own homes.

There are green alternatives available for most products these days including cleaning supplies, clothes,  dishes, beauty supplies,  mattresses, paints, and even carpeting.  We can use alternatives to plastics, like glass, and when we have to use plastic, we can choose safer plastics that don’t leach as many harmful chemicals into our food  (plastics labeled 1, 2, 4, and5 are the safest).  We can even make our own household cleaners, and beauty products that are green and usually less expensive to make ourselves.

In the kit I received, there were a bunch of theme ideas for the party.  I chose to do a green cleaning party because it’s something I do already and by making my own cleaners I have really decreased the amount of chemicals in my home.  I only invited five people because I wanted a manageable number and because I chose people who wouldn’t think I was a total nut job hippie.  (Well, they might, but they all know me well enough to not be surprised by it.)

It was so much fun!  Everyone really seemed to enjoy it and were interested in it.  We made our own all purpose cleaner.  My very favorite recipe:

2 tsp Borax

4 Tbsp Vinegar

1/4 tsp castile soap

3-4 c. hot water all mixed in a spray bottle.

This is the best cleaner ever!  I use it for all my counters and bathroom cleaning needs.  It does smell like vinegar, but the odor goes away after it dries.  You could use lemon juice in place of the vinegar if the odor is really too much.  You can also exclude the borax if you’d like.

We had some yummy vegetarian food (if I do say so myself), watched a short video by Healthy Child Healthy World, talked about eliminating chemicals and toxins in our homes, and got some samples from some great companies.  I got a lot of positive feedback from the party.   My mother-in-law, who one might call the queen of Lysol, is buying green products and making her own now.

The one thing I would do differently next time is have everyone invite another person if they wanted.  I heard from just about everyone that they told a friend about it and their friend wanted to come.  I guess it wasn’t quite as crazy hippie as I thought, and I could have reached more people.

If you’re interested in hosting a healthy home party, click on the link for more information.  If you’re just interested in the organization and what they have to say, I highly recommend their book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a cleaner, greener, safer home.  Educating each other is how change happens.