Last weekend we visited two different passive solar houses. At Sue and Celes Davar’s new house in the Gaspereau Valley, we were briefed on the passive solar concept, by staff at Passive Design Solutions.
They mentioned the following objectives:
- Keeping the day-time living space to the south side and night-time living to the north side
- Centralize all plumbing layouts
- Provide for one level living, incorporating ageing-in-place guidelines wherever possible
Between Heather and myself, this triggered several conversations about bedrooms upstairs on the second floor, as well as the physical effort involved in heating our house, primarily through the wood stove.
There are many other ‘place’ considerations. For us, it includes growing your own vegetables, close proximity to the woods and wildlife, and active engagement in an organic orchard.
Our sense of place is at risk. Whether it is the rampant clear-cutting of the forests in Nova Scotia or the impact of climate change on the coastal communities. Or it is the changing economic model and its effect on rural Nova Scotia.
One approach to offset these risks or potential risks is to be increasingly informed about ‘place’. This might range from knowledge of landscape ecology to an appreciation of the literary history of a region.
In an earlier blog post (February 4th) I made reference to a novel by David Manners, Convenient Season set around Centrelea. This week, courtesy of inter-library loan, I received his second novel, Under Running Laughter. It is set in a mill town in Eastern Ontario, about one hundred years ago. The story remains relevant today. It is about the values of the family that owns the mill and the values of local farmers. and the conflict between those who place a value on the landscape, and those who see things solely in terms of monetary values.
If we intend to adopt ‘ageing-in-place’, we need not only to recognize and understand the ageing process but also need to clarify our values and expectations in relation to ‘place’.
The next step in my David Manners research has been to track down his writing, after he moved to California, after the second world war. Fortunately, courtesy of Amazon, I am able to order David Morgan Jones (ed) The Wonder within You: From the Metaphysical Journals of David Manners and Awakening from the Dream of Me.
Manners died in Santa Barbara, aged ninety-eight in 1998. I hope to find them in my mailbox when we return from Iqaluit.
Acknowledgements
To Celes and Sue Davar for their open house hospitality. To Edward for his continued artistic and technical support.
References
Passive Design Solutions Passive Design Solutions
David Manners. 1943. Under Running Laughter. EP Dutton & co. New York
Postscript
Some days, you have your head down and so do not notice, so much, the activities around you. I just want to mention the sterling efforts of Edward Wedler. He has recently published a list of plein air art paint-outs for the Annapolis Valley this Summer. Check out the list in this pdf.
Yesterday, we held a meeting of the Ernest Buckler Literary Events Society (EBLES) board over on the Bay of Fundy shore. In preparation for the program design for June 29th, it was necessary to read some of the related literature.
The sky wasn’t just overcast or sunny. The sky was a mix of Burnt Sienna with a touch of French Ultramarine Blue or was a variegated wash from Cerulean Blue to Cadmium Yellow. We were not just engulfed in fall foliage of colours. Hills became brushstrokes of Alizarin Crimson, Quinacridone Gold (I love that colour) and Prussian Blue.
We divided the landscape into zones (foregrounds, mid-grounds, and backgrounds) and described how we would paint aerial perspective, “treat edges” and change tonal contrasts, to give a sense of distance.
Many times we would identify a focal point in the landscape (almost with “eye-spy-with-my-little-eye enthusiasm) and would suggest ways to direct viewers’ eyes to that point. Would it be the slope of the hills, the line of our winding road, edges of forest stands or the illumination of light breaking through the clouds? How would our favourite artists, or The Group Of Seven treat that focal point?
As we drove, we unpacked our landscape NOT in terms of “things” (such as houses, fence rows, barns, silos or cows) but in terms of shape, line, colour, patterns, gradation and composition. We became exhilarated, as artists, to not only view the landscape but to offer ways to interpret the landscape — whether it be as a realist, impressionist or abstract artist — in oils, acrylics, watercolours or inks.
POSTSCRIPT:
There are several examples of positive outcomes from this relationship e.g. MapAnnapolis, as well as local innovations. This week, I received a copy of Touring Annapolis, Venue guide for Artists produced by 
On the Ernest Buckler front, I want to share a couple of books that crossed my desk this week. Margaret Atwood published Moving Targets, Writing with Intent 1982-2004. It includes two essays that struck a chord.
The second book is Nova Scotia: Window on the Sea. It combines a text by Buckler with photographs by Hans Weber. While the text and photography can stand alone, it would be interesting to see a map of the photo locations. The book was published in 1973 – forty-six years ago. Perhaps we need an updated photographic version for the fiftieth anniversary.
Number #99 was by George Orwell Some Thoughts on the Common Toad. It contained eight essays, including a defence of PG Wodehouse, an examination of Gullivers Travels, and a commentary on Tolstoy and William Shakespeare.
The Orwell essays complemented my reading of Ernest Buckler. I had the opportunity to read Glance in the Mirror. This quotation caught my eye.
Last night at the Centrelea Cinema, there was a showing of 
Here is a suggested list of Uncommon Common Science stops in Annapolis County.
This week, courtesy of the Internet, I received 
The other recent challenge was the French cooking at the 
In attempting to understand ‘rural’. I pulled off the bookshelf, The Rural Tradition, written by W J Keith, Professor of English at the University of Toronto.
It describes a group of writers who go to Endlaw (an anagram for Walden), a country estate twenty miles from Granfort (aka Annapolis Royal). Buckler in his teenage years had spent time working at a similar resort in New England. Was the Morse Estate, part of Bucklers’ mental model?
From my previous blog, you will know that David Manners wrote Convenient Season, published by EP Dutton in 1941.
He wrote a second novel, Under Running Laughter in 1943. In his later life, he published several non-fiction works, The Soundless Voice, The Wonder within you, and Look through: an evidence of self-discovery.