Under Deadline, Finale: Lights Out

NOTE: The final in a series of projects completed for a new local newspaper publication. To read the first post in the series click here.

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LIGHTS OUT: Last stop on our 6-part Rancho tour is the area I used to call The Temple. I called it that because it had a symmetrical, altar-like presentation (click here) made up of classical-looking bits of this and odd-looking bits of that. But, if it was anything, it was a shrine to collecting; I loved tracking down pieces and plants to insert into its whimsical mix. In 2011 and ’12, I sold most everything that made up the garden and the Temple was not spared. With everything gone, I decided to turn the spot into an elevated concrete lounge pad (click here), keeping its existing salvaged factory windows and gate as backdrop. I was fine with the completed pad, however my lounge idea stalled … I seemed unable to make a seating/eating/chilling/lounge space materialize. I added a multicolored salvaged wood wall on one end, then dissatisfied, I turned it into a floor … I added, then subtracted, furniture; it seemed exposed and forlorn perched atop the stark concrete. Thinking the pad’s face needed softening, I added stacked cement block planters on either side of its step-up; still not content, I placed white stalagmites in front of them, their organic irregularity finally giving me the softening effect I craved. A bizarro rusted steel BBQ/smoker came next; I centered it on the painted wood floor where it would hold its own and have pride of place. Then: Inertia, brought on by my spinal issues, surgery and recovery … until that fateful editor’s call last month that shook me back into action. Forced to look at the pad as it stood, I decided that what it needed was a sense of enclosure, a wall to finish off the end that looked toward the Evergreen Cemetery. As in the past I searched Craigslist for a solution, finding it in the form of vintage galvanized carts. Complete with plastic liners, these carts probably once held wet uniforms on their way to an industrial laundry … I saw them planted with grass-like succulents, finishing off my outdoor lounge in style. I bought all carts offered and they worked out perfectly! I got my lounge wall without blocking sight-lines to the view beyond (see next photo) …

… A mix of vintage metal seating came next, including: A two-person ribbon settee in green; a pair of matching strap chairs; a stylin’ pair of rusted steel swivel chairs with conical mesh bases and curved backrests. I improvised a bench out of a painted truck step topped with square cushions. To spare visitors a sprained ankle, I stacked concrete elements (including a beehive) to fill in space between the pad and a nearby retaining wall. The final element to transform my concrete pad into a comfy lounge was a 100-foot length of string lights. To hang the lights, we took four 12-ft lengths of thick rebar and placed them into the ground at the four corners of the pad; hooks secured with industrial strength velcro finished off the top of each pole. We then simply strung up the lights, hook-t0-hook, until they ran out; amazingly they fit exactly! Flipping the switch that night for the first time, I felt the pad was complete, and completely transformed; it was exactly what I wanted it to be.

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In the opposing view the BBQ/smoker looks great on the painted wood floor. Note the galvanized carts in the foreground.

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Of course the daytime view is pretty nice, too … It’s a great place to read or simply nod off in the afternoon breezes.

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Oh, in case you were wondering, that lovely bit of curved rusted steel affixed to the back wall is a very old wheel guard from some sort of gigantic farm machine. Scored during a picking expedition somewhere in the midwest, it was spotted by me in a back stall at the always-dependable Treasures N Junk in Ontario. I imagined it mounted arch-like over the back wall’s center gate, where it would serve as a focal point … I quickly scrapped that plan, however, once I saw it upside-down against the gate. Not only did it fit the width of the gate perfectly, but like a wide, U-shaped grin, I could see it functioning as a planter — a succulent planter! I followed my standard planter-conversion formula to achieve this: I lined the lowest part of the U with metal mesh front and back and secured it with wire; in the resulting channel, I added a layer of  coco-fiber matting, followed by easy-drain cactus soil mix. Lastly, I installed an attractive array of succulents in the new planter/basket. More than an arch on the back wall, I love how the newlplanted wheel guard completes the lounge in grand Rancho style.

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A neighbor dropped by recently to faux whine over the fact that we’d had a party the night before and neglected to invite him … I was momentarily confused because we hadn’t. I then realized he’d seen the lights in the backyard and just assumed they signaled a fiesta. I guess I don’t really blame him for feeling left out, even from behind the fence the Rancho’s lounge looks like a hotspot.

“Because I’m happy — Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof” … That lyric from Pharrell William’s giddy pop hit expresses how I feel about my completed lounge — and my garden, really — now that it’s finished. Under the stars at night — alone, with Paul, or with friends — my room without a roof makes me very happy indeed.

Click here to get “Happy”

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Thanks, readers, for following this 6-part series. Thanks again, too, to all who assisted in physically making these projects and spaces come to pass: I could not have done any of it without you! It’s an amazing blessing to know that I have so many willing hands (and backs) supporting me and my ideas. The newspaper publication in which the Rancho will appear will be inserted in the Sunday, April 27th issue of the Riverside Press-Enterprise.