One of my enduring memories from childhood is watching my dad wash the car. He kept a big sponge, bottles of dish soap and Windex, and a roll of paper towels in a bucket, which he toted to the driveway every Saturday to wash off the week’s dust. (We lived in the desert, but lack of true grime didn’t stop the routine.) I used to joke that I left California because I didn’t want to wash my car that often.
These days, nearly 80% of car owners skip the hose at home and head straight to a professional car wash — often the tunnel type with colorful foam and flashing lights that cleans cars in a couple minutes. Fascinated by the proliferation of car washes around Richmond, I asked Claire Fortier to find out what’s driving the trend. She shares the sudsy story starting on Page 104.
Despite — or, perhaps, because of — growing up in the desert, I’ve always enjoyed gardening. I surrounded my former home with perennials and flowering shrubs, reserving a corner for fruits, veggies and, one year, hills of potatoes. I haven’t done much gardening since I moved to Richmond, and I miss the activity, the excuse to be outside, and simply smelling warm mulch and sweet blossoms. As Rachel Kester explains in “The Garden Path” (P. 98), tending and enjoying gardens can relieve stress, calm anxiety, and help work out physical kinks and cricks. I guess it would be good for me and my yard to get back out there!
One of my favorite ways to use summer fruit, whether homegrown or sourced from a CSA, is making ice cream — and, apparently, I’m not alone. Richmonders are enjoying a whole farmers market of frozen flavors, as I learned from Food Editor Eileen Mellon’s coverage of the current ice cream dessert craze. Restaurants and scoop shops alike are combining international inspiration, farm-fresh ingredients and gourmet whimsy to create unique flavors that can be served straight up or swirled into sundaes, parfaits, floats and signature desserts. The temptation starts on Page 110.
Also in this issue, we learn to kayak, talk to a compost company, preview summer festivals, get an update on street safety, sip minty cocktails and more. Plus, we examine ideas for solving a shortage of hygienists and present our annual list of Top Dentists in the summer issue of R•Health. Enjoy!
