ABG
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us

Cumberland Island

Beauty: Two Ways of Seeing It

1/8/2020

0 Comments

 
PictureThe Photo That Led to This Article
​Sam Burnham, Curator

​A good development last year was having the ABG Facebook page participate in the Vanishing Georgia Facebook group. It has connected ABG to some great folks and given us an opportunity to share our stories and photos with a larger audience. I recently shared a photo of a house that was moved from downtown Rome to be fully restored some 23 miles out into rural Chattooga County. The story behind the house and the move were very popular with the members of the group and it stirred a lot of discussion, comments, and questions.

The point of reference in the photo is a little deceptive. The zoom and focus make the house look closer to the camera than it actually is. There’s also a grassy mound between the house and the road. The mound obscures the lawn area immediately surrounding the home and gives the illusory appearance of unkempt landscaping. This led to a lot of questions about the status of the house, the condition of the house, and whether it was occupied or maintained. The house is occupied and beautifully restored. But the weeds and grass on the mound made such questions appropriate.

One of the comments was that the house could use some landscaping and hardscaping. This was the comment that got me thinking about this article and the ideas came to shape as I worked on my own property. While tending to my own landscaping and hardscaping I caught that inspiration that Agrarian writers tend to find as they’re out dirtying their hands.

​The examples of two schools of thought about land usage that came to mind are a bit fancier than my own property and even more upscale than the house from my photograph. They also offer us a contrast. We can look to them as examples from rural and urban, or at least suburban, locations.

PictureJefferson's Garden, an Example of Utilitarian Beauty
The earliest Agrarians, and the purists of today, had very little use for landscaping as we think of it today. Flower beds, shrubs, and ornamental plants all require time and energy and aren’t very practical in a frontier setting. These people were focused on survival.

The crackers settling South Georgia and Florida were busy either growing or finding food, clothing, and shelter. There was not much time for transitioning from salvia to pansies with the changing of the seasons. Landscaping would have consisted of beans, squash, okra, corn, tomatoes. Hardscaping would have been hog pens, smokehouses, or chicken coops.

​​For this side of the discussion I found myself considering Wendell Berry and his practical, simplistic approach. Berry is not the one you would go to to get advice on lawn care that keeps your HOA off your back. I love his quote on dandelions: “The world is in fact full of free things that are delightful. Flowers. The world is also full of people who would rather pay for something to kill the dandelions than to appreciate the dandelions. Well, I’m a dandelion man myself.” But in reading his writing you learn about beauty and resourcefulness. Beauty is something you can find if you stop to notice it, give weeds a chance. In a beautiful process land can produce food and goods and if they are treated right there will always be enough.

PictureThe Fish Pond, One Fancy Livewell
For a visual I go to Monticello, Jefferson’s little mountain. There was no corner market. There was no grocery store. If Jefferson, his family, their guests, or the numerous slaves were going to eat, Monticello had to produce the food. Meat came from the surrounding forest or from livestock The garden was large and located close to the main house. Although Jefferson’s many experiments were ornate they often involved plants that produced food of some sort or had some other practical use. Even the fish pond, one of the most photogenic features of the estate, had a practical purpose - keeping fish, which were caught in nearby rivers and streams, fresh until needed. The land was paramount and the beauty was both natural and practical. Even the house was built with that concept in mind. Though the house is large and spacious, it isn’t an imposing mansion. It is designed in a manner that appears compact. It doesn’t take away from Jefferson’s little mountain.

PictureDetails amd Craftsmanship Inside the Palace
​On the other side of the discussion I pondered Roger Scruton. Scruton is not the antithesis of Berry by any means. Their philosophies overlap in many ways. But Scruton brings a philosophy of urbanism to the discussion. His ideas on design and architecture focus on wise use of man made improvements, structures and infrastructure, and how aesthetics improve our world. His ideas can be implemented in our towns, suburbs, and even in our homes.

For this discussion I offer the example of the rebuilt (ironically from Jefferson’s notes and drawings) Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia. We featured the palace back in 2016. The home is enormous, one of the largest structures in the historic district. It is filled with details, mill work, wall and floor coverings, and decor that projected the wealth and power of the governor.

But the gardens are what is pertinent. The pathways, fencing, benches, pergolas, and trellises all work in concert with trees, vines, flowers, and grasses. The purpose is purely aesthetic. Only an ice storage chamber in a back corner offers any hint of practicality. The gardens exist to be enjoyed, to be pleasing to the eye, to provide beauty.

​
They also provide a respite. That is one thing beauty can do. For a man with a difficult task, the responsibilities of leading the colony of Virginia and the accountability to the King for the well-being of the colony and the face of the crown there, the gardens were an opportunity to step away. In just a few steps out the rear doors he was no longer in Williamsburg, no longer on duty. He was in some other place, perhaps some other time. Stress and pressure could be unloaded. The senses could be engaged in something pleasing.

PictureHardscaping Provides a Respite in the Governor's Garden
​The hardscaping offered passage, a quiet place to sit, even isolation from the outside world. The landscaping provided color, shade, texture. It attracted birds, bees, squirrels, it breathed life into an urban environment. The entire experience offered an opportunity to reflect, meditate, relax. That is what landscaping and hardscaping offer us at home, albeit on a more humble scale. Daffodils, tulips, or liriope might not make the menu but they might make your day better.

So I offer you this compare and contrast, perhaps even compare and agreement. It’s not that either of these are wrong. It’s not even that they are all that different. In fact, they can easily coexist and even compliment each other. How we apply them depends on our personal preferences, where we live, how much space we have to work with, and, of course, our budgets. The main thing is that we find ways to add beauty, practical or aesthetic, to our surroundings and that we take the time to appreciate it.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Sam B.

    Historian, self-proclaimed gentleman, agrarian-at-heart, & curator extraordinaire
    ​READ MORE


    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor, Click Here
    Picture
    ABG Sponsor - Click for Link
    Tweets by @BiscuitsGA

    Social Media

    RSS Feed

    Books Blog Directory

    Categories

    All
    Agriculture
    Art
    Books
    Business
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Community Revitalization
    Culture
    Education
    Family
    Fashion
    Fiction
    Film & Television
    Food
    Garden
    Hiking
    History
    Home
    Industry
    Local
    Music
    Native American
    Outdoors
    Politics
    Restaurants
    Revolutionary War
    Tradition
    Travel
    World War II

    Archives

    November 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2010

Copyright 2015
ABG. The celebration and preservation of Southern history, culture, and agrarian ideals.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • ABG CFB
  • Reference center
  • Contact Us