January 2010 -reflections on 2009. I don't make new year's resolutions instead I tend to reflect on the last year. 2009 marked the first year in a long time that I lived in one place. Western North Carolina is a region that I have lived and worked in for about 10 years. I have considered it home in many ways - returning to it after extended travels away in the North American west, Europe, and South America. I have a very vivid memory of returning to WNC after my first big road trip west for 4 months. It was spring and I drove in through Great Smoky National park - I remember how I thought "Wow! It's so green!". As spring is typically the rainy season in WNC the creeks were flowing strong and clear with fresh water. Green and wet, an appalachian rainforest. This struck me so much because I had just returned from the southwest where it was brown, tan, red and dry. Where my skin was as rough as sandpaper and the cracks in my hands grew deep from lack of moisture.
Place and what meaning it holds is difficult to pin down. It is encompasses so much that it can be an overwhelming thing to describe. Some thoughts...for much of my adult life (I am defining as 18+) place for me was rock climbing - I felt most comfortable in a place that had boulders and big rock walls. It was about what I did in the place that gave me a sense of place. Initially climbing took to me to a lot of places, specific climbing destinations and locales. Not to mention that climbing took me to places like tiny rock ledges hundreds of feet high. I have a great memory of enjoying a birthday on one of those rock ledges looking down into a desert canyon and remember being awed by the sense of place and beauty. Climbing was also the reason why I did not stay in one place - I wanted to be on the road, traveling to the next climbing spot. It is ironic that climbing has given me the greatest sense of place in someways but also given me the greatest reason to be transient and leave place behind. How long does it take to gain a sense of place and what does that mean? For me a full year in one place has been huge - it's shown me so much that I love. I would be holding back if I did not say that it has also given me wanderlust (assuming it was ever gone to begin with).
Focusing on a year, other thoughts on place. Place for a year is 4 seasons here in Western North Carolina - winter, spring, summer and autumn. Place is waking up and knowing which direction the sun will rise. Place is watching the trees begin to bud out in the spring and then watching the leaves fall in the autumn and wondering how long those last few will hang on for? Place is going wildflower hunting - where's that patch were the ladyslipper's grow? Place is getting really excited in the dorkiest way possible about finding morels and ramps amongst the forest floor. Place is watching the hummingbirds in the summer and fall and then hoping they come back for a visit next year. Place is watching the river swell with rain and then seeing it drop and dry up in a drought. Place is understanding the watershed. Place is knowing where the roots are in the trail you like to walk. As you can tell sense of place for me is at first defined by the natural world - the sky, trees, plants, animals, creeks, rivers and trails (the simpliest human route into the natural world). Place for me is more than that, it's just that I tend to think about all that stuff first. Place is about people - your family, friends, co-workers. Place can be as simple as waving to your neighbor. Place is about joining a community (or I'll say the possibility of joining a community) that you depend on and are accountable to. Place is knowing your local resources and how to tap into them. Place is knowing the shortcuts around town - driving, walking and biking. If you are a city dweller - place is also about the mundane things like putting out your garbage can and recycling bins on sunday night for early monday morning pickup. Place for me is less about material things though - but it does include local landmarks like the favorite restaurants, parks, bookstore and bakery.
There are thousands of writers and poets who have written about place. Each culture of people define and experience place in a different way. They are all rich and valid. I am reading the book The French Broad by Wilma Dykeman (copyright 1955) right now which I highly suggest to anyone who specifically would like to delve into the complexities and history of place in Western North Carolina. She was the most well known environmental advocate for the French Broad watershed and this book helped elevate the need for and the ultimate passing of the Clean Water Act in 1973. She lived from 1920 to 2006.
Desert Climbing Place
