Quotation Reflections

"To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture with has never seen before, and which shall never be seen again." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The above mentioned quote seems to have a soul of its own. It spurs the imagination, takes root in the soul, and regales the mind's eye. For who cannot recall a moment of that pure and perfect phenomenon we dub as Nature. Whether or not the beholder thinks it beautiful, the landscape shapes us, makes us its own, and in time we all see its true purpose.

This quote has many meanings and uses within my particular writings. That being said, its themes and effects upon the reader are only part of my "story's" overarching meaning. There can be no debate that the beauty and awe found in Nature encompass not just the Earth, but our own selves as well. For being part of the great circle of life, we can in fact, look upon the quote, not as an outside observation, but as inner enlightenment.

Biography of Place Quote

"Our national literatures should be important to us insofar as they sustain us with illumination and heal us. They can always do that so long as they are written with respect for both the source and the reader, and with an understanding of why the human heart and the land have been brought together so regularly in human history" (Lopez 35).

This quote speaks to my biography of place because it represents the essence of my relationship to this certain place. In the same way that national literatures should sustain us with illumination and heal us, so too should the land. It is becoming increasingly rare to find a place that appears seemingly untouched by humanity, so as humans, it is our obligation to ensure that the places we do touch don't lose this illuminating and healing quality.

In terms of the way I will use and incorporate this quote into my essay, I think it serves my purposes best as an example of the way I interact with my biography of place. While it also functions as a definition of sorts, it is too vague for me to use as the foundation of my essay.

Biography of Place Quote

"Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance." 
-Charles Lindbergh


This quote was used in my essay because I believed it was relative towards the topic of biography of place. Taking the idea in the Lopez article discussing two different types of landscapes we perceive - the external and internal landscape- I will use this quote to further support how external landscape shape the way our internal landscape is perceived and viewed in our minds. Our internal landscape is only adopted from the vantage point of our external landscape. I will also tie this quote into my theme of lostness that my places has been viewed and how in my life i can sometimes feel lost as to what my future will hold. This quote will be tied in with my theme so therefore will be introduced in the introduction paragraph.

Refuge Quote

In Refuge, Terry Tempest talks about her first encounter with Salt Lake being boring, until her mom gives her a motive/challenge to play, Terry explains "She had given us a dare. One by one, we slowly entered Great Salt Lake. . . It was in these moments of childhood that Great Salt Lake flooded my psyche" (33).  Terry talks about how initially she was stubborn to enjy the Great Salt Lake but when a motive is put behind the experience new light is shed.  I might relate this to the theme of apprehension towards new places and experiences.  In my paper I talk a lot about my initial impression of camp and how it changed over the time I spent there.  My place ( in my biography of place) is intimidating at first but empowering over long periods of exposure and I feel this quote relates to the push required for change that i discuss in my essay.

My quote lends it self as an advancement to an argument I'm making.  My quote makes a point of identifying the importance of a single push in the right direction can change your whole perspective.

quote response

"In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society. But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head and I am not where my body is-- I am out of my senses." (Thoreau)

I chose this quote because I find it relates to biography of place, specifically the development of our internal landscape. I chose this because I find it gives perspective to the reader in a way that most people can relate to and I feel as though it offers an explanation of a concept to the reader which can be difficult to convey with words. Next, I think this quote would be used primarily to substantiate and strengthen a common concept found in my paper. 

Self as a place

Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself inside your own head. You'll find what you need to furnish it - memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.

Tad Williams

The quote above was chosen because I wanted to explore the themes of independence and self reliance, and how when things get tough, our experiences, and with what weve learned our true nature is revealed.  Specifically, the words "Never make your home in a place." to me this part of the quote was most compelling. I have lived a nomadic existence, with barely any roots since I was a kid.  I would place this quote to reenforce my point of view at the end of my paper. To summarize how I have never quite fit in anywhere, but with myself. 

Biography of Place- make up assignment

1.     The quote I chose to use in my essay is from “The Most Amazing Challenge” article. Hawken’s speech is centered on the theme of restoring the land and the responsibility of the graduates to restore the land. He says, “Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform, rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider.” This theme of restoring and rebuilding land relates to my farm because part of the farm is in the nature conservancy now, in order to restore the land so that no one can build on it and change the natural landscape.  

2.     This quote can be used to support part of my essay where I discuss the preservation of the land in the nature conservancy. It backs up the idea that my grandfather donated this land in order to save it from being built on and to save the homes of the wildlife that lives there. I think it also supports the idea that it is humanities job to preserve the land and make a change. It proves that one person can make a difference.

Biography of place

For my biography of place I will be doing one of Snowbird, Utah. It is a ski resort. It's the place I learned to snowboard, the place I had the best day of my life, the last place I skied with my father and the last place he skiied as well.
It's is high in the mountains of Utah and it's an old ski resort with lots of history that I can explore.

Biography of Place

For my biography of place essay, I will be talking about a trip my family took a few years back to Cusco Peru where we visited the ancient city of Machu Picchu. This is a famous archaeological site that belonged to the Inca Empire. It consists of complex palaces, plazas, temples, and homes in which we scholars can conclude that this may have been built as a ceremonial site, a military stronghold, or a retreat for ruling elites.  The ruins are located in a beautiful area high in the eastern slopes of the Andes, covered with tropical forests of the upper Amazon Basin. Landscape engineering skills are in strong evidence at Machu Picchu.  The sites buildings, walls, terraces, reclaim the mountainous terrain and make the city blend naturally into the rock escarpments on which it is situated. I believe the Lopez article of External/Internal landscape will help me relate my feelings when I first visited this place and will incorporate it in my essay.  This place has been themed as the “lost city” where no one, not even experts, can determine what this city was used for since it was abandoned and the Inca had no written language.  I would like to focus on my paper how the “lost city” was once very isolated (not even the Spanish conquerors knew of it for a while), and now is far from isolated due to the fact that it is a must see for any visitor to Peru. This creates a challenge of preservation of the site while making it accessible to visitors which I will further look into. 

Biography of Place

To be honest I'm really not sure what I am going to write about for my biography of place.  I can only really think of one place that has shaped me to be the person I am, and that was Camp.  I went to a camp called Keewaydin, located on Dunmore Lake, in Salisbury Vermont.  I've spent just around 10 months of my childhood and early adult life there.  At camp I learned many things such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking, survival, carrying my own weight, the importance of teamwork, and countless other skills and lessons, but most importantly camp has helped me build my own personal identity.  Keewaydin is a little over 100 years old and has a rich history of campers but also sits under the awesome green mountains, home of the legendary Green Mountain Boys who fought the word of the British crown before it was cool.  Vermont's Green mountains have a large history and involvement with revolutionary war.  Overall Vermont and her mountains have molded me to be the person I am now, and the U.S. would not be the same without the good fight the Green Mountain Boys fought.

Biography of Place Outline

Situated 43 miles off the mainland of Honduras sits the southernmost of the 3 bay islands, Guanaja. Ravaged by category 5 Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Guanaja was nearly wiped off the map, and is currently an island struggling to survive. It has all the potential of a strong tourist industry, yet the people suffer from little to no economy.  The lack of industry leads natives to over-fish and over-harvest their natural resources in an attempt to survive. Despite a lack of governing and enforcement to protect the environment, Guanaja still is home to some of the best fishing, and diving in the world. Guanaja is a small, primitive island, 11 miles long by 3 wide, with 15,000 inhabitants teeming with life. 7 years ago in June I set foot on Guanaja for the first time. I have since returned each summer to work with a fly fishing lodge situated in the southern cays of the island. From year to year, my life continues to fly by at an unimaginable pace, but Guanaja is almost frozen in time, still home to the same humble, grateful, smiling faces which greeted me 7 years ago. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to watch the Flyfish Guanaja operation grow from what started as only a dream, into one of the premier salt water flyfishing destinations in the world. It is not the crystal clear waters nor the abundant fish that keep me coming back, but the people who call this place home. Through providing the best jobs in the history of the island, it is grounding to experience the impact we have made on the lives of our crew. Through countless days on the water, in their homes, with their families, and immersed in their way of life, I call these people nothing less than brothers. Again and again I am humbled by their willingness to go out of their way to share a smile, welcome a stranger, and simply their joy for life, even in the face of tragedy. In a world foreign to that which we know, this place and the people who call it home have given me a new meaning of gratitude, sense of place, simple life, and a life well lived.

Biography of Place - Old Town, Fort Collins

For my biography of place assignment, I would like to focus on the historical district in the city I grew up in. Fort Collins is rich with history surrounding the military fort that stood there in post Civil War America, including the gun powder cache's that lined the banks of the Poudre River. It was also an agricultural hub, and even held the title of the largest sheep farming city in America for a short period. I want to explore how the physical landscape changed to reflect the socio-political landscape throughout the late 1800's and into the 1900's, emphasizing key moments in history such as social movements and movements during major wars. Even in more recent times, the city has undergone a huge growth spurt that has transformed it from the place that I know from my youth to a place that I can hardly recognize when I return home. Essentially, I want to explore just how this external landscape transformed to reflect the internal landscape that I associate it with when I think of what it was like to grow up in Fort Collins.

Biography of Place- The Farm

For my Biography of Place essay, I’m going to write about my grandparents berry farm, which has since been passed down to my family.  It is in a rural area in Virginia so the communities that are part of the farm consist mostly of nature and animals. There’s an abundance of fruits, eagles, deer, foxes and ground hogs. The farm is something that brings my family together to relax and get away from the stress of work and traffic that comes with living near D.C. The freedom that comes with being on such a large piece of land and the ability to roam around on the ATV, picking berries and exploring is something that makes the farm special to me. The farm also has a lot of history beyond my grandparents. When building their house, they discovered Indian bones and relics (pottery parts, arrowheads etc.) Across the Rappahannock River, which surrounds the farm, is Fort A.P. Hill, a place used for military training and we often hear the firing of guns. It is said that Captain John Smith traveled up the Rappahannock River and on the land. My grandfather donated a part of the farm to the Nature Conservancy in honor of my grandmother. On that land they found evidence of an old plantation home that had a brick making facility.

Biography of Place- Hanging Lakes

From the time I was a baby until I was in my late teens, I used to go to Glenwood Springs with my family every summer for a long weekend. During our trip, we would take the long, beautiful hike up to Hanging Lakes. At the top of the trail there is a crystal clear lake with a towering waterfall. I haven’t been back there in years, but this past summer I tried to go with my dad while we were in Vail for the weekend. Unfortunately, the roadway in was a parking lot and we got word the trail had become overcrowded and miserable to hike recently. I plan to research the history of Hanging Lakes and explore the relationship between preservation and tourism in our national parks and protected lands.

Biography of Place Proposal

Close to every summer of my childhood, I traveled with my grandparents to Tioga, North Dakota for a couple of weeks. My grandparents grew up in a small town nearby and still go back to visit their families and friends. Despite not having lived there for 50+ years, they still refer to North Dakota as “home.” This town is a place that epitomizes summer for me, and seems to exist only within that season. However, the older I got the less I connected with it and I didn’t travel there as much. Now the town of Tioga almost makes me appreciate my hometown more and respect the differences between my extended family and my immediate family. Especially over the past few years, North Dakota has been plagued by various political hardships with an emphasis on oil. There are several people in my family who deal with these controversies on a daily basis, and so I believe I will have lots of material to easily research. I look forward to exploring what this place means to me personally as well as the social aspects that effect the land and inhabitants.

Culloden Battlefield

  My topic for the Biography of Place is the battle of Culloden, fought in 1745 in the highlands of Scotland.  My discussion will touch on the complex route that brought me to that battlefield on a cold February day in 2006.  I will explore the fictional book that inspired my interest in Scottish history in general (and the Jacobite rising in particular), the history of the culminating battle that largely destroyed the culture of the Scottish highlanders, and the physical landscape that remains almost unchanged to this day.  My direct interaction with this landscape was very short, but it did have a lasting impact on me.

Jenean Roberts

Keith Andres Park

                                   Andres Park is named after SPC Keith John Andres
                                Keith was killed in action in Vietnam on November 2nd, 1967


My Biography of place will be on Keith Andres park. While I was stationed in Chicago I used to run by a park that was about 25 acres in size. It was enclosed by thick overgrown trees and bushes. There was an entrance from one side of the park which on one occasion I decided to enter.  There was graffiti, trash, and it seemed the park had many years of neglect. It needed some help. Surrounding the park, was a lower income neighborhood, and on my runs I saw many children playing in the streets and houses. I thought about how unsafe this park seemed, so I got to work trying to figure out how to make the area mutually beneficial for the community, and  the young people I was training at the time. What  happened would be the beginning of a proud journey for me and many who worked with me. Since that time I am curious what has become of the park we adopted, and how it has changed. I will write about events 10 years ago, and what has happened to the park since my time there.

Nature and Nature . . .

From what I understand about internal and external landscapes (and the truth in a metaphorical way) build a good story according to Barry Lopez.  More specifically a external landscape is the back ground and the fore ground, basically its everything around the subject.  But its more than everything in the scene other than the subject, external landscapes are about the relationship between the things that compose the scene.  When I'm walking to class after a fresh snow, the external landscape isn't just the snowcapped mountains, the setting sun, and screaming lacrosse players.  It is the way the setting sun reflects off the mountains and snow and turns the sky purple, the external landscape has to do with way the screams are drowned out by crunch of snow under my foot.  Internal Landscape on the other hand is a whole different ball game.  The internal landscape has to do with the subject and his or her components of character formed by the external landscape molding the subject overtime.  A good stories internal landscape should bring perspective to the actions and motives of the subject.  The internal landscape has to do with the anxiety driving me to step aggressively into the snow as I await the consequences of my procrastination.  Internal landscape brings clarity as to why the external landscape has such an effect on the subject.  At least thats what I derived from this reading.

External and internal landscapes

External landscapes are physical world. What we can see and perceive to be there. Internal landscapes are the opposite, it's the way an individual interprets a situation. Internal landscapes look more based on top down processing and the way in interacts with the external landscape and external ones are based on bottom up processing alone. Two people can look at a single external landscape but get two very different internal landscapes from it.
This concept reminds me of the top down vs bottom up processes that I have learned in all of my 4 psychology courses including the one I'm in right now, cognitive psych. Top down is when your mind shapes your perception of a stimulus, while bottom up is allowing you to experience a stimulus and perceive it the same way.

External and Internal Landscapes

  In Lopez's "Landscape and Narrative" he speaks to the language of of the physical world as well as the language of the spirit.  More importantly he speaks to the connection between the two and its importance.
  The external landscape is everything that physically surrounds us.  At a basic level it is everything that we can perceive with our senses, whether or not we have the language or understanding to define them.  It is a feeling of order, a certain correctness in the living world when we hear a bird sing, see a sunrise, feel the sand between our toes.  You may not be able to speak to the physics behind a rainbow, but you can be just as certain of its validity and existence as someone who can.  The internal landscape is a reflection of the external landscape, embellished and smudged by our own histories and perceptions.  The sensory memory of a dense wood is colored differently by the person who wanders through it with idle curiosity versus the person who runs through it to escape some perceived threat.  Both can tell a true story about that wood as they passed through it at the exact same time, and both will paint a very different - though no less authentic - tale.
  Lopez stresses the point that, though there may be minor factual errors or oversights in the telling of an event, there must be that correctness to the physical landscape of the story.  The storyteller must believe in what they are conveying because without that authenticity, there cannot be a depth of connection between listener and teller.  The listener will not be able to internalize what the teller is trying to share.  If the teller is able to successfully recreate an event, even those with no direct association with the topic will be able to find meaning and understanding in it.  The story will also help color their own internal landscapes.

  I have done quite a bit of work in Wyoming over the years but I have yet to see the portions of the state that are popularly considered "beautiful."  The areas where I have been would more readily be classified as "remote", or "barren".  When I first began working in these areas, I would have agreed with those descriptors.  But then I'd see a tiny pink flower growing out of the rocky dirt, or watch a hawk circling for prey, and I began to realize that "beautiful" was also a truth of these places.  My perception and observation of the physical landscape redrew my internal landscape, adding a deeper understanding to the complexity of that single word: beauty.  Conveying that new understanding through telling is difficult.  Though I am speaking my own truth, most people's perception of Wyoming is of the I-80 corridor and that internal snapshot speaks more loudly than I do.  Convincing them that the ridges and plateaus covered in sagebrush and pine trees is anything other than boring is a tough battle and I have received my fair share of eye-rolls.  I have not yet found the right language to truly convey my internal landscape, but I find that within me is a need to keep trying.

Jenean Roberts
 

Internal and External Landscapes

In Lopez's essay, he describes the relationship between internal and external landscapes. External landscapes are the natural, tangible world around us. Internal landscapes are in turn the way that we perceive these external landscapes on an individual level. In the context of the essay, Lopez argues that two people can hear the exact same rendition of an external landscape, but the way that they internalize this information is entirely based upon their own experiences with external landscapes they have encountered in the past. Thus, it is the job of the storyteller to create an external landscape that is detailed enough to get the story across, while allowing the listener to partake in the telling of the story by internalizing this information to make sense in an individual setting.

An example of my own personal connection to the idea of an internal/external landscape comes from a friend of mine who I would consider a fantastic storyteller. He has a way of describing an event by picking out the minute details that I would never have thought to include in an oral retelling of this event. These details are purposefully targeted towards his particular audience, as if to intrigue the listener and put them in this external landscape being described. He has a way of doing the work of internalizing the story for his listener, so depending on who the story is being conveyed to, the focus will shift to emphasize the portion of the tale that will capture the interest of the particular individual.

Lopez's Internal and External Landscapes

Lopez defines external and internal landscapes as the relationship between our surrounding environment and how we convey that to others. External landscapes can be seen as the physical world; what we immediately see, smell, hear in front of us. Internal landscapes, on the other hand, are more metaphysical. Two people can see the exact same thing yet their interpretations of what they are seeing may vary greatly. Lopez argues that for a narrative to reach its audience, it must hold some truth. To do so, the storyteller must describe the external landscape to the best of his abilities. Then, the audience’s internal landscapes can shape the story to their own understanding. For example, when we tell stories to our friends and family-which we do on a daily basis-we are attempting to get a point across. Whether that point is to entertain, inform or persuade, we cannot expect to reflect our internal landscapes directly on to our audience’s. We have to simply describe the external landscape of the story to the best of our abilities to allow our listener’s internal landscapes to align with ours.

Lopez'z Internal & External

All of us are doing the best we can at any given time, doing the best for ourselves and others with the information and development we have. Daily decisions are shaped by our life experiences, beliefs, and values. We are born into and raised in circumstances, without a choice. We are subconsciously influenced by parent's, friends and, events both positive, and negative in our formative years. This is what I believe Lopez means by internal landscapes, contrasting with, and complimented by external ones. For me an example would be when he writes "...the shape of the individual mind is affected by land as it is by genes."  Poverty for me was a circumstance, which influenced my external world, yet shaped my internal appreciation and gratitude for simple happiness and family. I remember waking up on a rainy morning in the garage we lived in, the seven of us, six kids and our Mom. It was raining hard outside, and whenever it did, water would leak from the bottom of the garage door opening. All of us rushed to put towels and block the water from coming in. I recall how we came together laughing, joking, and the smell of the rainwater on the concrete slab. We were happy, yet I recall how hungry we were at the time, and we still found joy. Out of all my memories as a child, I can honestly say, I was happiest then, when I was the poorest, and my land and surroundings were so very small. I believe Lopez means that we tell our own story based on places,facts, events, experiences, as well as our opinions and feelings we have about them.

Internal and External Landscapes

In Lopez's writing he differentiates between internal and external landscapes, which each themselves are not so difficult to grasp. Moreover, in this context, Lopez is more so trying to stress not one or the other but the relationship between the two, specifically how the development of the intangible internal landscape is a result of our tangible interaction with the external. Our external landscape is what we can feel, see, hear, touch and smell; observable in our surroundings, though, it is limited. One can only take so much from these interactions, but to fully process our external landscape so we may develop the internal, it is necessary to begin to understand the interactions and relationships taking place all around us. The internal landscape is the transcendental interaction of our experience with the land to the part of our consciousness manifested in thought, perception, emotion, will, memory, desire, and imagination; it knows no boundaries. I believe the exterior landscape that one dwells in molds the shape and character of one’s thinking; furthermore, I believe Lopez said it best when he said that this mold is most strongly ".. influenced by where on this earth one goes, what one touches, and by the patterns one observes in nature..." A personal example comes not from one specific moment but from a daily occurrence. Wherever I am, whoever I am with, whatever I am doing, nature consumes me like a curse and the fine line between passion and distraction becomes easier to lose. With each venture into the mountains, onto the open ocean, or into the wilderness, the desire to escape and explore the undiscovered grows exponentially and it becomes easier and easier to neglect (what some might call) priorities...

My Ethical Relationship to The Land

In the beginning there was Nothing, now there is Everything. What transpired between then and now has left many "things" lost and confused, humanity being one of them. Our rapid technological evolution and exponential growth have left us grasping at the edges of what we once knew as Nature. Can you feel it? The dying sighs of a bygone land, struggling to survive just as much as, if not more than, man himself. Oh to see the Earth as it once was, free not of evil but of willful ignorance. In our blindness we have begun tearing down the walls of our home, ripping out the very floorboards we rest upon, in hope of some hidden treasure lying right beneath our feet. And yet, as the irony and futility become increasingly well known, we make no move to stop our own self-inflicted misery. Instead we bicker amongst our petty egos, hiding behind dead metals and glaring lights. Gone are the peaceful miles of meadows, ripe with harmony and sweet with the scent of a billion new faces singing in the sun. Instead we have parking garages, shopping malls and discount dry cleaners. So I ask not what we should do, but if we will?

My Ethical Relationship to Land

When I was a kid in the eighties, there was a cartoon  that introduced a team of kids and the titular superhero  of the show "Captain Planet".   Each episode was about this group of heroes discovering some person or organization harming the earth in some way, whether it be by not recycling , improper toxic waste disposal, or any form of misuse or abuse of the planet and its resources. Up to this point in my cartoon watching career I was captivated by cartoons with otherworldly adventures, "HE-MAN", or  "Thunder Cats" . These shows were exciting and totally different from anything that could happen on our world of Earth. So after watching a show about saving our planet from Smog, deforestation, and harmful emissions into our ozone, I decided I was not a fan of this show at all.

Now you're  probably thinking "This guy does not care about the land at all!". Up until that point it wasn't that I did not care, in truth it was more like I did not know. You see  my upbringing socioeconomically, and culturally were devoid of information or discussion about anything related to a ethical relationship to land  or the impact to our surroundings. Familial relationships, friendships, religion, and recreational distraction or activities were our world focus. That's not to say my life was filled with negligent abuse or disrespect of our earth or its resources because we had our eyes on daily distractions or obligations. Thinking back I believe we did OK. We recycled cans, not to help our environment, but to make ends meet. We walked everywhere or took the bus, again not because of emissions, but because we had no car. So I guess you could say I had a inadvertently respectful relationship to my land as a youth.

So why did I dislike that cartoon so much? I believe it was because it put a face to dangers I never knew existed that could affect the world I lived in. My  reality, the possibility of land and resources as a finite thing, this was not another world it was here. I never watched again, because for a time I was safe in my naiveté, my worldview. Since then I have slowly been naturally educated in my travels outside of that world, by exposure to different cultures, experiences, and ways of living. I learned to respect and appreciate, and connect with a land in my own way

So today I recycle for a different reason , have one car but stay home most days, through my current world view and  my life experiences I do what I can. I appreciate and respect our land's beauty, and relish moments of connection with it, but more importantly live with compassion for our land as well as all creatures who reside on it.