“A front porch is such useful space, eh?”

I think every house should have a front porch. Sales of decor would go through the roof.

Better yet, people could use air conditioning less often and converse with neighbours walking by in their undershorts. (It could happen).

Then, neighbourhood cohesion would go through the roof, and between ‘decor’ and ‘cohesion’ going through the roof, I’d pick the latter.


["I'm grateful I have a wee porch, with decor.": photo GH]

Unfortunately, not everyone has a porch. I read one reason why they’re not added to the front of houses in the book ‘Little House on a Small Planet.’

From pages 79-80:

Excellent outdoor space, even when architect-designed and contractor-built, is typically one-third to one-tenth the cost of indoor space. “But unfortunately, the outdoor space comes last,” landscape architect Irene Ogata explains, “literally - it’s built when everything else is finished, and after the finances have been depleted.”

Does this apply to you? Does it make sense?

For example, is useful outdoor space - like a porch with fine birdhouses scattered all about - neglected because most of the money is gone by the time the house is ready for use?

I know in Canada we cannot live outdoors all the time, but even in my 1,050 sq. ft. house, I heat a lot of indoor space I don’t use often in the winter. I would gladly sacrifice 100 sq. ft. of indoor space now to have a larger porch because I use it a lot during three seasons.

As well, I cool a lot of space I don’t use in the summer because I’m out on the porch so much, checking out my decor.

If I could do it over again, I’d have a smaller house with more outdoor space, e.g., a screened-in back porch with a bed to sleep upon during hot summer nights. And definitely more decor : )

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Please click here to read more about neighbourhood cohesion vs the air conditioner.

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Upside, Downside: Air conditioning vs neighbourhood cohesion

[London is already a “heat island”, a low, wide city several degrees hotter than surrounding (and shrinking) farmland and forests, that was built in sprawling and extravagant fashion when fossil fuels were cheap. G. Harrison, It Strikes Me Funny, July 21]

I wrote about air conditioning recently, and as per usual, what I said was bang on. Not a loud, important bang, mind, but still...

For example, London is certainly a heat island.

And when temperatures rise to ‘hot, hotter, hottest’, many Londoners add to the problem.

I.e., they crank up countless a/c units, cool off businesses, homes and vehicles artificially, and create more heat and carbon emissions at the same time.

The whole process is really a Catch-44 situation (twice as bad as a Catch-22).


["Can we use the a/c sparingly, even on hot days?": photos GH]

Last night, while generating another kind of heat on my exercise bike, I read the following comment about air conditioning:

Some people credit the arrival of air conditioning with the decline of neighborhood cohesion, especially in the South. (pg. 79, Little House on a Small Planet)

I found the sentence interesting because air conditioning has another colourful chapter in its life story, and we can now blame the entire fall of neighbourhood cohesion on the southern US.


["My front porch lines up with my closest neighbour's. Excellent."]


["The four chairs get a lot of use during three seasons."]

I suppose the advent of a/c, whether in the South or in Canada, drew people indoors during hot days or evenings and off their front stoops, steps, lawns and verandahs. Some people would say, “Forget about sitting under the elm tree with the neighbours. Let’s go inside, sit right in front of our new major appliance and listen to the next exciting episode of ‘The Cisco Kid’ on the radio.” (Up north it would be ‘Front Page Challenge’ on TV. That’s only if I got the decade right. I probably didn’t. Sorry, I digress).

Others would say, “I like chatting with the neighbours and passersby as they wander listlessly around the block in their undershorts to escape the heat, but I’d much rather sit indoors now and play with all the dials on our new air conditioner that’s the size of a refrigerator.”

And who could blame them?

Certainly not me. I too have a fascination with dials and push buttons and mysterious widgets. “Forget the instruction book,” I often say to my wife. “Let’s see if I can blow another fuse.”

A second comment from Little House on a Small Planet is closely linked with the first one mentioned:

Front porches in neighborhoods used to serve as telephones and TV sets; they announced to neighbors you are available to chat, and livened up the street life for those out on an evening stroll.

It makes me think there is much to be gained by making an effort to reduce our dependence on artificially cooled air indoors.

Though some people need a/c in order to survive our hot weather, perhaps if more of us tried to cool off in more natural ways, i.e., by walking or cycling about our neighbourhoods more often (not in our undershorts, please), sitting in shade islands provided by healthy trees on the front lawn, or catching a wee breeze on the front porch, we could reduce carbon emissions while, at the same time, growing more connected to the neighbours we live amongst and neighbourhoods we live within.

Do you think a/c is related to the decline of community cohesion?

Can the telephone and TV be added to the equation?

Is the South really to blame?

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Please click here to read ‘As temperatures rise, Londoners create more heat.’

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Zoom w a View: Everything’s boomin’

Is it just me, or are pollen headaches heavier this year?

In my ‘hood and in my yard, everything’s boomin’ and bloomin’. Healthy signs in spite of the headaches.




[Everything’s boomin’: photos GH]

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Please click here to see more Zoom w a View.

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Zoom w a View: Linden trees frame a streetscape

Where mighty oaks and maples once stood in my neighbourhood we now see linden trees.

Though I’m partial to oaks and maples (mighty hardwoods - like my head), I’ve read good and interesting things about lindens.


“Linden trees, sometimes called basswood or lime tree, are an excellent choice for the urban landscape. They are especially hardy, tolerant of alkaline soils, visited by few destructive insects and exhibit a natural, pyramidal shape that requires little pruning.”

“Lindens are slow growers and will take many years to provide shade." (Treehelp.com)

The colours of the lindens on Duchess St. (once known Old Victoria St.) are indeed golden yellow and their leaves are lining our streets.

Not only are they aka basswood and lime tree, but bee tree as well.

“Imagine yourself sitting under a beautiful tall green tree. The soft summer breeze gently ripples through its shiny heart-shaped leaves. High overhead, you can hear honey bees lazily buzzing in and out of its perfumed flowers.”


["Yellow-gold lindens line Old Victoria St., now Duchess Ave.": snaps GH]

“This is the linden tree. Sometimes if grows 130 feet high, and produces some of the most powerful herbal medicine known to humans. You may even have one of these trees on your street because they are planted widely in cities, and are fairly common in the countryside throughout Ontario.” (More details from vitalitymagazine.com here)

Whatever they’re called, I like them.

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And now you all know a little bit more about the trees in my neighbourhood and what I do with some of my free time.

Isn’t life exciting?

Another Zoom w a View streetscape here.

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Be It Resolved: I’ll walk a marathon per month

Are these phrases familiar?

A gaggle of geese.

A school of fish.

A pride of lions.

A batch of BBQs.

That last one is my latest invented phrase. Good one, eh?

A batch of BBQs isn’t something I saw recently - it’s something I endured. And it ain’t over yet.

My weight is going up (I’m now 5 pounds over my legal limit) and I must do something about it after I return from Bracebridge and one more BBQ supper already scheduled at my sister’s house.

What to do?

I’ll still cycle 100 miles per week and play Wednesday hockey but I’m toying with the idea of walking a marathon per month on a regular basis.


["Photo from a short morning walk; I must go longer": photo GH]

I like walking. I like walking with a camera. I like walking speed (it’s a great speed for thinking and observing interesting architectural features on neighbourhood houses, i.e., spying on folks).

But I usually just walk short distances in the ‘hood, e.g., to the corner of Coffee and Hardware for my regular fix of java and bag o’ nails.

I need to bump it up, to 26.2 miles per month, to lose 5 pounds.

I’ll be back in 30 minutes.

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Is a marathon a month too much?

I’ll figure out how long it takes me to walk a mile, then do the math.

We’ll see. I may have to settle for a half-marathon per month.

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Neighbourhood squirrels getting fatter by the day

Here in Old South one can find the fattest and boldest squirrels in the city of London.

They stare at me from atop my neighbour’s fence as if I’m of no concern, perhaps only looking at my hands or pockets to see if there is any hint of a treat for them.


No, I don’t come bearing treats. They’re fattening up for winter very well indeed without any help from me.

In fact, winter will be late arriving.

Thanks to global warming and climate instability our temperatures are quite mild compared to, for example, the 1970s.


["Sniffing the grass - for treats?": photos GAH]

The squirrel sniffing the grass in my yard is too young to remember the snow storms we used to enjoy or endure (depending on which side of the snow fence one stands).

While he sniffs, I’ll continue to hope for at least 18 inches of snow, as a sign that Mother Earth can still scratch up a real winter every once in awhile.

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Am I alone in hoping for a foot and a half of snow?

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Zoom w a View: Buzz off. That’s my cookie

Yellow jackets arrive and depart every second.


Moments ago, I had a clear view of their hive’s entrance (a hole in the wall of my neighbour’s house) from my perch on my porch, tea and Cadbury’s Chocolate Fingers in hand.


The Fingers attracted visitors and my assignment for the day - “take it easy” - flew out the window.

I ate the rest of the cookie quickly and walked into the house for my camera.

I’ll finish tea and cookies, and take it easy, on the safe side of my screen door.

***

I wish I could see inside the hive. There must be thousands of bees in there.

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Live Small and Prosper: The ‘Small Economy’ has a big future

Future generations will thank the Corporation of the City of London for it’s economic action plan (it’s coming soon to a big blue binder near you) if it is practical, sustainable, affordable, understandable and good-looking.

Nothing short of that will do.


["The buzz is coming": photo GAH]

“More than 200 leaders of London business, labour, education, finance, government and other agencies will brainstorm this Thursday in a bid to devise an economic action plan,” begins an article in this morning’s London Free Press, and in my expert opinion, they’d better get it right this time because they don’t have many kicks at the can left and our unemployment rates are through the roof (11.1 per cent vs 8.7 nationally).

My suggestion:

Grow the Small Economy.

I.E., Begin the transition from homes, cars, appliances, furniture, roads, sidewalks, box stores and businesses (for starters) that are bigger than needed to meet our basic needs (related to food, clothing, shelter, communication, transportation and recreation).

Build smaller homes at lower prices. Smaller apartment units that require smaller furniture. Smaller cars that require smaller motors and tires. Smaller stores with smaller shelves for fewer items. (How many kinds of mustard or shampoo do we really need?)

Sounds like a lot of manufacturing to me!

Why, if our city was the first to used advanced technologies to help a family of four live as happily as clams in a 999 sq. ft. house close to all amenities, the world would flock to our front door.

Well, maybe not ‘the world,’ but I bet the buzz would as great as that made by the yellow jackets that swarm the Western Fair every September.

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Am I onto something here?

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It Strikes Me Funny: Research on the road

Yes, I actually do research for my weekly column.

There’s Google, the daily paper, my neighbours and my all-time favourite, the timely deep question.

E.g., “So, what do you think?”


Tuesday I rode my bicycle through a nearby neighbourhood that came highly recommended. (A reader emailed, “Kensal Park. You’ll love it.”)


["My personal favourite w old, scuffed paint": photos by GAH]

While there I formed a few opinions about the area - it’s definitely a quiet part of town, right up my alley.


A good birdhouse builder lives there too.

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It Strikes Me Funny: Cycling to a neighbourhood near you?

For the last few weeks my column has been about different neighbourhoods in London (will any compare to Wortley Village? I’ll keep an open mind) - and half the fun is getting to some of them.

For example, my 12-speed rides like a charm.

The fresh air and exercise gets my blood flowing - hopefully in the right direction.

Bike paths through the parks or beside the Thames River are enjoyable to ride.

Sure, some road conditions could kill you. I just missed one pothole the size of a small cottage.

And traffic could kill you at any hour per day.

(Too much horse power in cars and SUVs? Too many drivers on cellphones? Too many cars per square inch? I don’t know, but it’s crazy on many city streets).

I suppose I should say the journey 'can' be half the fun. (Be careful out there).

The other half is trying to see a new neighbourhood through the eyes of a reader.

Recently, Phil W. wrote:

“Hi Gord. We’ve met in The Village and in Boston in 2005. Now let’s get down to business. I am a health conscious, eco-friendly, athletic book worm and my neighbourhood is perfect for my lifestyle. I rarely need my car.”

Phil added several more interesting details, including his address and the words ‘coffee is next door at Angelos’ and at lunch time today I picked my way through traffic and along bike paths to his neck of the woods.


["Though rain threatened, Gord arrived safely for coffee": photo by GAH]

Once I'd poured a cup of Seattle dark roast I sat down and imagined myself as Phil.

More details to follow.

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If you live in London, tell me about your neighbourhood. I’ll come visit.

Link to The Londoner for a story about my latest cycling trip to Pond Mills.

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