Spaces (Outdoor and Inner)
I been working in various yards the last couple of weeks. Mostly weeding and pruning and what-not. Clearing spaces for more of the good stuff.
As a result, I see Virginia Creeper and Wisteria when I close my eyes.
I wrote “working” above, but the time and effort isn’t drudgery in the way the same activities felt during my childhood. I’d like to think I enjoy the endeavor for its own sake. It feels like that, and I am certainly not being compensated monetarily. As James Carse put it:
Gardening is not outcome-oriented. A successful harvest is not the end of a gardener’s existence, but only a phase of it. As any gardener knows, the vitality of a garden does not end with a harvest. It simply takes another form. Gardens do not “die” in the winter but quietly prepare for another season.
I explored this kind of game or endeavor in an edition called Let’s Keep Playing. (As an aside, it is most helpful to have these previous articles show up in a Google search, because I cannot for the life of me remember what I’ve written previously. Luckily this amnesia won’t progress as I age).
Sharing Space With Those Who’ve Moved On
The Ghosts in My Garden Keep on Giving, Year After Year (Kristin van Ogtrop, WaPo). I’ve not done the best job of maintaining the garden gifts I’ve received, but each time I am out there I feel the presence of those who gave them (and so much more) to me. And I keep on playing just like they did (do?). . .
Love of gardening was passed down from our mother to us, gradually but persistently, like ground ivy overtaking pachysandra.
And speaking of mothers and gardens, I was in my mother’s garden a couple of weekends ago.
Best Use of Space?
How Parking Ruined Everything, ( Dante Ramos, Atlantic). I am sure there are numerous counterarguments to the points in this piece, but there has to be some irony, contradiction, and/or folly involved with constructing so much to accommodate something we use so infrequently, right? (I am aware there is another potential crisis of space).
An off-street parking spot, plus the room necessary for a car to maneuver in and out of it, requires more than 300 square feet-which, by one estimate, is about two-thirds the size of a typical new studio apartment.
A More Considerate Way to Share Outdoor Space?
Ask Me About My Super-Quiet Electric Yard Tools ( Steven John, The Strategist). I know I am not the most mechanically oriented citizen on the block. But starting gas-powered tools, buying/remembering/storing proper gas/oil mixes, and enduring the noise and smell are pretty significant downsides.
Once a battery-powered tool is acquired, you pay very little for the rest of its operational life. Electricity is a lot cheaper than gas, and in my experience, electric tools are more reliable and less prone to breaking down. And the up-front costs are similar — for example, the price of a new battery-powered mower is entirely comparable to a gas-powered lawn mower.
Life Cycle Analysis and Preserving Spaces
I love electric vehicles — and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped (Rowan Atkinson, The Guardian). In case you think I am some sort of naïf regarding the costs and benefits of various public policy choices. Hat-tip to my friend Charles Terreni over at the SC Utility News Digest for this.
Currently, on average we keep our new cars for only three years before selling them on, driven mainly by the ubiquitous three-year leasing model. This seems an outrageously profligate use of the world’s natural resources when you consider what great condition a three-year-old car is in.
When You Need Some Space . . .
If all you’re reading about feels like a descent into madness, Run for the Stronghold that is the voice of Wendell Berry.
Creating Your Own Space (and Enabling Others to Do the Same)
Wisdom about how to keep playing. I still believe
She was a level-headed dancer, on the road to alcohol; And I was just a soldier, on the way to Montreal . . .
are the best opening lines for a song.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
