A Special Look Back

I spent most of the month of June 2018 flat on my back, laid low by spasms in my lower spine so intensely painful that, after several hours of agony, I ended up taking an ambulance to the emergency room. Needless to say, the forced recuperation put a damper on my ability to assemble newsletters: I could lay down, stand up and walk, but sitting produced painful transitions – one as I eased into my chair and, after no more than a couple minutes filled with increasing awareness of tightening muscles, the other as I pulled myself back up again to return to bed to recover with an ice pack.

The two July editions of this newsletter clearly reflect the predicament I found myself in: This time, I’ve selected six past articles and features that have drawn the most eyes in the years since WaterShapes went all-digital in 2011; next time, we’ll revisit some that haven’t garnered as many clicks – but, I think, merit more widespread viewing.

The list includes some exceptional articles from the magazine days, including:

q ‘Water in Transit,’ an article from 2002 in which Skip Phillips shared his insights into the process of designing vanishing-edge pools. He and others certainly have advanced the state of the art since then, but the root philosophy he defines here is as timely and on target as they day it first appeared.

q ‘Natural Patterns,’ a 2004 feature in which Eamonn Hughes, in his only contribution to the magazine, discussed patterns observed in nature and how identifying them had long informed his work of creating beautifully naturalistic ponds, streams and waterfalls for his fortunate clients.

q ‘Riding a Golden Wave,’ in which Dave Wooten described what it was like to blaze a trail in fountain technology back in 2006 while working for one of the world’s most demanding clients – that is, Walt Disney Imagineering. It’s quite a dance on the outer fringes of hydraulic and mechanical system design.

q ‘The Subtlest Flows,’ where Robert Nonemaker discussed his great fondness for working with rills back in 2008 while taking us on a tour of applications in which slight, modest flows of water bring both rhythm and harmony to spaces large and small, open or confined.

q ‘Jet Setting,’ one of a long string of articles from Steve Gutai in which he drilled down into technical subjects, typically hydraulic in nature, to help designers and builders understand the dynamics of watershape systems. In this highly clicked case, he offered guidance toward making concrete spas perform nearly as well as their portable counterparts.

q ‘Creative Genus,’ one of Stephanie Rose’s Natural Companions columns from 2006 in which she continued her ongoing campaign to help water-fixated designers and builders expand their thought processes to using shrubs, flowers and trees as valued components in complete outdoor environment.

This pair of special July editions has been generated with my lightweight tablet while flat on my back, which is great. But it was also satisfying to reread dozens of articles as I rounded out the lists. There were a few tough decisions: In one case, for example, the most-clicked article we’ve ever published – Tommy T. Cook’s opus ‘Casting Nature,’ which has amassed nearly 100,000 views – was omitted because it appeared as an “Essential” item in our newsletter just a few months ago.

Also in these newsletter are brand-new items in The Shopping Cart and the WaterShapes Web Café as well as a new WaterShapes Professional Network Update – small items that were just about all I could accomplish in the five-minute spans I’m managing to find at my desk. My doctor tells me this will pass and I’ll be feeling better sometime soon. In the meantime, I beg your indulgence and hope you enjoy revisiting these articles as much as I have.

And please learn well from my example: Take good care of your back!