On burning incense outside

With the press of the school year behind us, entire afternoon blocks have cracked open for extended porch sits, and I’ve got a plan to spend as much time as possible outside this summer.

In the garden, things are in bloom - matilija poppies, peaches, oakleaf hydrangeas.

The backyard table is cleaned and prepped for al fresco dinners.

And Friday afternoons have welcomed a new favorite tradition: sitting on the front porch, drinking a gin and tonic (La Condesa is my favorite Gin), and reading a book. Right now I’m reading the latest Tana French novel, a nice interlude amongst all the overly-serious non-fiction books I’ve been into lately.

But the bugs are biting - tell me why we have mosquitos in SoCal now? - so I brought out the big guns, aka, the thick sticks of incense that are too smoky to burn in the house. Copal is a good option for this, or any incense stick with a diameter thicker than 1/4”.

I’m not a scientist but apparently incense can keep bugs away because of the smoke AND the scent (your personal body odor is masked). This is a great excuse to tack on to my Friday tradition (wellness optimizers would call this habit stacking) and make a dent on my incense drawer.

My incense of choice this week is Inca Aromas Frankincense incense, which I picked up from the tarot card store in town (really). They’re sold out of that scent but I found it here on etsy. The incense is handcrafted in Brazil with natural resins of frankincense and breu branco (often referred to as Brazilian Frankincense, it is a resinous sap that smells like fresh pine and crisp citrus) and vegetable gums, and burns for 90 minutes.

The incense was incredibly smoky - too smoky, certainly for inside, and even too smoky to sit directly next to - but did the trick of warding off biting critters.

Kids making potions and salad dressing (not actually edible) in a molcajete I have surrendered to the cause, permanently.

New front porch chairs from Neighbor, because the other ones were knawed to bits by a porch rat.

The lavender roses that smell like citrus

The peaches have come to fruition this year. Last year I only got a couple peaches off the tree and blamed the rats; this year I fashioned haphazard bags around some peaches, but not others, and either way, we got a bumper crop. I’m in a rush to pick them all before the bugs get them. The scent of a freshly picked warm peach, juicy and aquatic and sweet, is getting my fragrance wheels turning.

1. Summer uniforms have entered the chat. I’m into this hybrid sporty/forest fairy combo of adidas firebird shorts and a loose gauzy top

2. Pepper continues to recover from his partial jaw removal surgery - with his tongue hanging out and dripping water all over the floor after drinking it. Libman Wet & Dry Mop has come in clutch.

3. Animal on his way to work, a Disneyland souvenir

4. I love Peonies not just because they are extremely gorgeous, but because you can get the really closed ones from TJs and each day is a new treasure as they unfold

5. Wearing Jake’s House from Henry Rose, a clean and crisp summer scent. Henry Rose makes really excellent perfumes, which DO NOT give Tom headaches, so I can lather it on. I like that it’s got a blend of musk, light florals, and a touch of marine. It feels seaside-ready. Wearing musks in the summer reminds me of the one summer I used White Musk from the Body Shop religiously. It was one of my first summers away from home, so likely my brain’s come to associate a white musk with new freedom.