Summer in the Shire

You may wonder what its like in the Shire during summer. Well, my friends, its wet. It rains every day in a steady downpour. We huddle under the awning and watch the rain bounce off of the street. Every plant and shrub grows like crazy in the rich soil and semi-tropical climate.

Its hot, of course, but mostly its humid. It is possible to break out in a sweat simply sitting still. Only the tourists and criminals move fast. Those of us who live out our lives in this strange place know to pace ourselves to get all the way from dawn to dusk.

Every so often a high energy, hyper person bounces in and we stare in awe. Then we resume our leisurely pace and life drifts on. Life is slow and we have the time to notice one another and to pay attention. Our culture is person centered. We care how others are doing more than what they are doing. We are human beings, not human doings.

The small scale of the Shire supports human interaction. It is an ancient urban design imported from European villages and it is the model for "the new urbanism". City planners copy the Shire for new developments.

We, however, already have "the new urbanism" in our Shire. Our Shire is known as the Marigny, where the past and the future of urban planning come together.