Inspired by Pythagoras

In high school, I earned mostly straight A’s. One exception was geometry. I struggled with that damn subject. Yesterday, geometry came back to haunt me. I needed to make a 4 foot square (but turned to look like a diamond) in the exact middle of a huge rectangle space. I tried and tried to get it centered, but each time I failed. Then I remembered there was a formula I knew, once upon a time, to find the diagonal of a square. I remembered that I sucked at geometry, I remembered that the formula had a’s b’s and c’s in it…. a + b = c? No, that’s not it… a + b = c/2? Nope. Finally, I gave in and called Phil who very gently and non-condescendingly figured it out for me using the correct Pythagorean theorem of a2 + b2 = c2 (he also had to tell me that’s what it’s called).  Then he even converted it into inches for me.  If only I had called him sooner. And then I was once again back on the inspiration train instead of the de-inspiration train (that’s an express).

So, as you can see, my little flagstone square turned out beautiful, and, *gasp, right in the middle of the space! I have never done anything of this sort before. I dug out the square, smoothed in the paving sand, arranged the stones, jumped on them real hard to test them out (that was not in the instructions….not that I was using instructions anyway).  I also put a few plants in there to grow in between the cracks. Up at the top corner is mint. Below that is a creeping phlox, and at the bottom is a creeping wire vine. Wee babes as this point, but they will grow quickly.

How is this a garden, you may wonder? It’s the center for my garden. On each side of the flagstone will be a 4×4 raised bed. I am going to make the borders for these out of empty wine bottles. So calling all winos out there….I need your empty bottles. If you’re not a wino, please start drinking wine.

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Categorized as Gardening

By Jenny Cain

Spunky musician, artist, seamstress and horticulturalist. More about Jenny...

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