Squares and Rectangles

I experience our industrial and post-industrial society as having an orientation towards squares and rectangles.  These are prevalent around us in every day things - mores than circles, ovals, and waves.  Our houses, tables, pictures, paper - all kinds of things are square and rectangular - so many things come in those shapes.  The folders on my computer and the window I am typing in - these follow the pattern.  What makes this predominant? The predominance of the right angle in architectural plans is the topic of Why are most buildings rectangular?  by Philip Steaman.  He answers the question: "A geometrical demonstration comparing room shapes and room arrangements on square, triangular and hexagonal grids indicates that it is the superior flexibility of dimensioning allowed by rectangular packings that leads to their predominance".  His article is HERE.  So rectangular it is for many things - efficiency.  There might be more than this.  In a tutorial on how to use shapes creatively at visme.co  the ideas and feelings of shapes are outlined : Squares and rectangles are reliable, give stability and suggest order Circles represent completion, wholeness and harmony Pentagons, hexagons, octagons give designs a unique feel.  They can also be used to portray an already known use of the shape.  So in addition to efficiency, we get reliability, stability and order.  Squares and rectangles seem to be our chosen sensibility. I would think this has been the case since ancient Greece and Rome when geometry was explored and recorded.  I wonder what would change this progression? Can we evolve to another set of shapes?  I don't see easy answers in my search, so will pursue this in the future. We move to our pictures today -  taken in the Niagara Street arboretum where the weeping cherry tree is located. It is the subject of the last picture.

The King's Highway and Main Street

Main Street Grimsby is an east-west street that runs just under the Escarpment.  It started out as a regional highway - King's Highway 8, one of the oldest provincial highways in Ontario.  The King's Highway covered quite a bit of Southern Ontario, not just Niagara.  The Niagara section is the oldest, though, and came about in 1918.   Because it connected to the road system of New York State at the Queenston Heights Suspension Bridge, it was the first international highway link designated in Ontario.  Things have changed since then - what passes through Grimsby now is Niagara Regional Road 81, and The King's Highway 8 ends where Hamilton and Grimsby meet.   We call it Main Street, and it is an enjoyable drive along Highway 8 through towns, orchards and vineyards.    I thought I would investigate Highway jokes.  There are very amusing road signs, but they are visual, so not easily includes.  Here's a story, though, that goes well with the highway theme: A guy was driving when a policeman pulled him over. He rolled down his window and said to the officer, "Is there a problem, Officer?" "No problem at all. I just observed your safe driving and am pleased to award you a $5,000 Safe Driver Award. Congratulations. What do you think you're going to do with the money?" He thought for a minute and said, "Well, I guess I'll go get that driver's license." The lady sitting in the passenger seat said to the policeman, "Oh, don't pay attention to him - he's a smartass when he's drunk and stoned." The guy from the back seat said, "I TOLD you guys we wouldn't get far in a stolen car!" At that moment, there was a knock from the trunk and a muffled voice said, "Are we over the border yet?" I got to thinking about Main Street and Highway 8 yesterday as I was walking along it.  I took a few pictures -  the first is our always-pretty porch, and the second shows one of the barns that is beside the house. It reminds us of the not-so-long-ago times when horses were part of transportation.

Pretty Florida Architecture

As I finished taking pictures of the sunrise, I heard a yell from the beach and the two very hardy and hearty young surfers had just jumped into the water.  The waves today are great long, rolling waves. They must be perfect for surfing even though the temperatures are cold this early in the morning.  A walk along the beach yesterday revealed where the dead tree had been moved to. l wonder where it is today.   View this email in your browser

Buffalo Garden Walk 2014

I had such a great time on the Buffalo Garden Walk yesterday.  It seems that there must have been even more people than last year, as I parked even further away from the Central Headquarters.  I saw some gardens I hadn't seen before thanks to Dan Cooper, garden writer and book author.  He sent me the release to media on the showcase gardens to look at.

Here's one I hadn't seen before.  What beautiful architecture!