PlaceBloggingDescription

Place bloggers write, on one level, about the place where they live: its ecology, its beauty, the particular quality of nature in that place, and their relation to it. On another level, place bloggers are concerned with larger questions of ecology and land use, the future of the environment, and human beings' relation to (or alienation from) the world we inhabit and share. And on a still deeper level, many place bloggers are exploring the whole notion of "place" itself: where and what is this elusive idea of "place", in its broadest sense, and what does it mean to us as spiritual beings in perpetual search of something called "home"?

More thoughts on place [here].

CassandraPages

Fred here...

I think we need a clear understanding among ourselves about what typifies a post 'about place' so we can guide contributors to our 'portal'. I'll offer a few general topic areas, maybe we can expand on this list so that in the end, we have a thumbnail list that will let a potential reader/contributor know what this realm is about. Very off the top of my head...

• Nature/natural history: can include mere observations but better, observations that promote understanding or reflect relationships with non-human species and habitats
• Landscapes: descriptive/immersive narrative of the landform that surrounds you (or in your travels but more than a travelog of I went here, there, etc). Painting word pictures so those from other types of country can be vicariously in your woods, prairie, beach, mountaintop, etc)
• Human-nature interaction: Tell how your activities or those of your community impact the living systems for good or ill.
• Local history of place: Explore how your life is just so because of the history of where you live, the people that lived there and farmed fields, built the house, created community...
• Personal space in place: Reflections of one life (yours) passing through and being changed by place (weather, seasons, birth-death, aging, personal growth). Journaling in the context of the 'where'.

• Your turn. Feel free to modify my quick ideas, then add your own. Or blow this off if a waste of time. I'm doing this for me, because I am being asked 'what's it all about'. Pointing to a dozen 800-word essays may not be the best way to explain ourselves, I am thinking). Fred