Geometry

Yesterday morning we had Tornado wake us up. He was sleeping over and there is little I like better than a tiny body worming his way in between Louise and I giggling and asking questions that have no business being asked first thing in the morning. The day starts early and just gets busier and more exhausting as the day wears on. I know I put a lot on myself, but they are tiny and loving for such a short time I feel the need to make the best of it. Too soon all the other activities of a busy life will push Grandma and Poppa aside for the more important business of having fun. Such is life.

Now, having said how much I love having a little person or two in my life, I can't take that little person 24/7. I suppose that I could if I had too, but I don't have to and little visits are enough to warm my heart. I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning and luxuriating surrounded by warm sheets and a quiet house. Of course I woke up at six AM eyes open and body buzzing. I went to the spare room so as not to wake Louise with my tossing and turning while I tried to return to bedded bliss. Sadly, although not unexpected, I remained awake looking around the darkened room I was in.

I couldn't make out anything clearly, partly due to the twilight conditions and partly due to poor eyesight. I could make out shapes and those shapes were rectangles, squares, octagons, circles and more rectangles within rectangles. It occurred to me while I was laying there that I live in a geometric world. Pretty much everything that is man made is based on a geometrical shape. I suppose that is due to ease of manufacture, it's far simpler to make thousands of rectangular tables than thousands of free flowing individually shaped tables.

As I write this I am looking out the window and I can't help but see that Mother Nature doesn't seem to have a problem making millions or billions of individual items that perform the same functions but are all subtly different. Each tiny budding leaf is as individual as every snowflake. Trees are categorized by us but two maple trees living side by side take on different shapes yet from a distance look to be exactly the same. Every blade of grass has a slightly different hue of green, height and shape. Well, the ones I have studied have differences.

It is odd how we humans spend our free time trying to make those things in nature conform to our idea of what they should look like. I spend an hour a week during the summer months trying to keep all blades of grass the same length. I trim my bushes so that they make a straight line and act as a fence between my property and the neighbours. Trees are trimmed, stones are placed in pleasing geometrical patterns leading to our doors. I even plant my food in rows so that I can keep track of what is what and for ease of harvesting.

Perhaps we humans are just going through a phase. Someday soon (I hope) we will figure out that it is far easier to build things in a natural way. The technology may not be here yet and I suspect that no one is actually trying to figure out a more natural way of manufacturing the items that we need. We will eventually I suppose.

If the efforts of mine in the yard are any indication, Mother Nature is continually trying to return things to a natural state. If we only take the time to see how it all works, perhaps we can learn how it is done. There might be too many of us, but I suspect that Mother Nature has a solution for that as well.