The shape of things to come

I've always believed the land will determine and tell you the style of the garden if you spend the time to listen.

I was tilling this morning and then spent some time with a shovel prying out rocks. A second chore involved starting to excavate pathways so that I can fill them with crushed gravel. This will improve the drainage and give us dry footing across what is now slightly soggy (or very soggy depending on the weather) lawns.

The problem comes in when I have to decide about the shapes of these pathways - the width and the direction they'll take coming to and fro. The width is easy - it has to be wide enough for two people to walk comfortably side by side.

The direction is another matter. You might say - the straightest line between two points is the best for a walkway but...

A straight line focusses your attention on the end goal - the door. You tend to ignore what's surrounding you on the way to your goal. Life can be like that sometimes. We get too focussed on the goal and forget that life is about the journey - it's not about getting somewhere.

To make a long thought much shorter - my pathway is going to be a slightly bent one. You won't be fully able to walk directly to the door from the parking area - you'll have to take in some other views along the way. And it is these views that I'll be emphasizing in the sculpture of the place over the years.

And that makes me feel pretty good. I listened and the magic of this place started to talk to me - don't make the lines straight on this garden.

So circular the gardens will become.