The Law of Significant Enclosure
The law of significant enclosure says that we feel comfortably enclosed when the vertical edge of a space is at least one-third the length of the horizontal space we’re inhabiting.” — — every garden design website and blog on the internet.
It’s late and our hotel is under construction. We’ve spent days driving through the wide-open West, and now the parking structure feels like a warren, barely tall enough to accommodate the car. My daughter and I are hungry and grubby. We look ridiculous as we enter the slick and glamorous lobby. Shoes spill out of our suitcases. Shredded grocery sacks disgorge trail mix and candy. A half-empty case of water balances on my roller bag while an orange emerges from somewhere and rolls toward the door. But it’s Vegas, after all. People probably check in looking a lot worse than this.
In our room we don’t even consider showers. We drop our belongings, slap on lip-gloss and clean clothes, then head for a restaurant a few floors down. It’s called the Strip House. “What if there are strippers?” I ask Celeste.
“I’m so hungry, I’ll eat the damn stripper,” she says. The name turns out to be a play on words. Las Vegas Strip, Filmstrip, New York strip. It’s 2007, but the décor says old Hollywood enclave. Red banquettes. Black and white headshots of stars from the silver screen hung so close together their faces…
