If you're new to our wiki, please sign our guestbook below! Let us know about yourself, give us links to your journal or weblog, and tell us about your place in the world.
Hi from Dave T on the North Coast of NY. I live about a stones throw from the Erie Canal. I have a blog called [Dharma Crumbs] but as the name implies, it's a buddhist thing, not particularly a nature thing. I have a love for nature writing (Basho, Barry Lopez, Gary Snyder, etc.) and have written nature based poetry for years. Love your site!
Hi from Heather C in the high desert of southwestern Utah, U.S. I just started a blog called [Sleeveless in Southern Utah] and I'm having fun with it. Nice to meet others who have an attachment to place too. Looking forward to exploring more here.
Hi from [D'log] over in England. Interested in sense-of-place. Loved the William Least-Heat Moon book Prairy Erth, which is the best primer on how to deeply map a place. I'll be hanging out here for a while, starting 17th April '04.
Loretta M of New York. My blog is http://artjournaler.typepad.com/pomegranatesandpaper/. I've only been blogging a few months but I've been writing and journaling forever. I write frequently about place,in fact my latest entry is about metamorphis of my grandmother's house, and another recent post is about my young family's move across country. I've lived in many parts of the country and now I'm back home in New York, trying to understand my spiritual connection to this grey, noisy, crowded, expensive place, a connection so strong that it left me wallowing for home in the orchard blossoms of Central California, in the lazy, sweet, smoky life in Tennessee, and the latte/bookstore wonderland of Portland, Oregon.
I've never heard of a "wiki" before, but the topics and the writings are like manna from heaven and I hope to join you here with postings. This is an incredible place, thank you for it!
Joel Sax of Trabuco Canyon, California. The name comes from the Spanish for "blunderbuss" -- back in 1769, when Portola and his men crossed the region, they misplaced one of their guns here. Hence I live in "The Valley of the Lost Blunderbuss". [Pax Nortona]
My name is Miguel Arboleda, living in Tokyo, Japan. I'm a German_Filipino_African American who grew up in Japan and the U.S. and am currently making Japan my place of blog. A place, for me, is where you tread, and a blog is what you choose to pause to look at and mention. Japan has come to mean much more to me than what ex-patriots might just consider a temporary sojourn; Japan has become who I am and how I see the world (as perhaps any place will become for someone). From the singing of the higurashi cicada on summer evenings, to the particular angle of the steep mountains in Japan, even to the rhythmic thunder of the local commuter train or the way neighbors shuffle about with their heels stepping down on the backs of their shoes, the familiarity spells "home". Perhaps you might like to take a gander at what I see as mentionable? [Laughing~Knees]
Jenny Lambert from Newcastle, Australia. I have lived in Canberra, Launceston, Köln, Madrid (where I met Pica, from Feathers of Hope), Sydney. Newcastle, north of Sydney, is located at the head of the Hunter river. A port and originally a convict settlement, it was for many years considered by out of towners a place to avoid because of its heavy industry. Some years ago, the steel works was closed down and Newcastle is now attempting to redefine itself as a university town and growing tourist area. It boasts as most of coastal Australia does, pristine surfing beaches, rocky headlands and platforms. Lake Macquarie (a large salt water lake); National Parks and the Hunter Valley vineyards are easy to reach from here. (At least in terms of Australian distances, they are). With the loss of industry, the Newcastle environment is cleaner and water birds have once again returned to the wetland areas and mangrove swamps located near the river mouth. Many visitors to the area (particularly Australians) complain there is nothing here (ie. nothing to "do"). To appreciate the simple beauty and spirituality of a natural environment, it seems, is not enough for many these days. I sincerely hope that there are enough environmentally concious people in our country to protect its beauty for the generations of the future. We (the settlers from the last 200 years) have a lot to learn from the Aboriginal people of this land when it comes to truly appreciating it. Just to update - we now have a weblog - [Mulubinba Moments]
Hi, I am Bill of Dallas, Texas. Joel suggested that I take a look at this wiki. My weblog [Prairie Point] takes it's name from a place, but not the place where I live. It is a place that exists today only as a cemetery, an historical marker and in the memories of a few old people. It is a place where my ancestors were born and died and a place that has formed me into the person I am as much or more than any place I have ever actually lived. I am not a writer but I have often found it useful to keep a journal. I started my weblog only a few months ago and I still don't know exactly what it is "about". The majority of my entries are about gardening but I did not set out to create a garden blog.
Welcome, Bill--I hope you will find some like-minded people here at Ecotone. Many of us started our blogs "a few months ago" while others have been at it for much longer. Our next joint writing biweekly post is about Suburbs and Place (July 15). Hope you'll be able to participate! If you'd like to add a topic to our ever-growing list, such as garden as place, please do so -- we have a lot of gardeners here out there! -- Alison / Pica
(BTW where is the Prairie Point you mention? Have you written about it on your blog? I'd like to take a look.... )
Jenny--great to see your entry here, and I encourage you to join in the discussion whenever, and whereever, you like on the wiki. You mentioned Köln--I'd forgotten you moved to Madrid from Germany way back when... -- Alison
Finally got a moment to say hello here. Thanks to all for the invites. My own contribution to the burgeoning world of place blogging, [Creek Running North] was actually first envisioned as a place where I could do writing that actually meant something to me. I have a dream job editing environmental publications - chief among them relative to importance being [Faultline, California's Environmental Magazine] - but it gets old editing story after yet another story about the degradation of the environment. The beauty of the intensely local has saved my life on a number of recent occasions, and Creek Running North allows me to make room in my professional life for some of that centering. -- Chris Clarke
Chris--welcome! I've been hoping you'd get a chance to join us here on the wiki for some time, and am especially hoping you'll have something interesting to say about SuburbsAndPlace (July 15). -- Alison
Grant Jeffrey from Skye, Scotland. I heard about the Ecotone project from Lisa. It's a terrific experiment and I am interested for two reasons. Firstly, I'm involved in a group weblog about wildlife on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The web site is called [WildSkye]. It is very much 'place' oriented, people exchange and share info about flora and fauna in a very specific geographical area. So far the site has been fairly succesful and is generating all sorts of fascinating postings between people who would never normally meet. But I am also interested because I am currently involved in a research project investigating 'online helping communities'- in particular, ways in which older, mature and experienced members of the community can safely share ideas and discussion with school students online. I am a lecturer in psychology at Napier University in Edinburgh but live on the Isle of Skye, I therefore have a strong personal interest in the psychology of 'community' in remote rural areas, especially compared to city life! Good luck with Ecotone and I would love to contribute to discussion if/when appropriate.
Welcome, Grant! I've seen and enjoyed reading your group weblog previously. It would be wonderful if you or your group could contribute to Ecotone; you might especially be interested in participating in our collective blogging topics, the next one (coming up on August 1st) is on TreesAndPlace. --Allan
I'm Susan Albert, place blogging from the Texas Hill Country for the past two years. I've been at Lifescapes [1]since March, 2003. I'm a writer, and place is an important element in my fiction. Important in my life, too--we live on 31 acres of overgrazed prairie northwest of Austin. I'm a prairie person, with roots in rural Illinois and Missouri, and prairies have shaped me in ways I know and ways I don't know yet. I share Ecotone's interests and passions and hope to participate in your discussions.
Hi - I'm Ian Bertram, I'm in the UK and I work with local communities, helping them improve their own places. I have a 'business' web site [2] (sorely neglected of late) but I have also recently restarted a blog [3] which in part will be about places - not specific ones but how to make them and how to improve them. It was in response to a recent post that Fred First told me about Ecotone.
Welcome, Susan and Ian. We're glad to have you with us and look forward to getting to know you and your places! -- Beth (aka "Cassandra")
My name is Dan, creator of a new Weblog called North Coast Cafe. http://northcoastcafe.typepad.com I didn't know it at the time, but it is a blog about place--the area around the Great Lakes, especially Lake Ontario and the Finger Lakes of upper New York state. I'm new to blogging, very new to WiKi?, and so far have enjoyed the challenges and stumbled only a few times with the difficulties. I hate not being able to accomplish what I want. I never know if I'm incapable of understanding or if what I want is impossible with the software I have. I must say TypePad? is terrific, but it does have a learning curve that sometimes frustrates me. Please visit NorthCoastCafe? and let me know how it could be made better. Glad to be here!
Randolph, [very new livejournal]. I'm a recent architecture graduate (University of Oregon), still living in Eugene, Oregon, a logging and university town. I've had a lifelong interest in place and space which I've finally acted on by studying design.
Welcome, Dan and Randolph! We look forward to having you join in our discussions. Next writing topic is AncestralPlace (October 1). Please also see the PhotographingPlace/Topics that happen on an alternate schedule. -- Alison
This is making me giggle. I only learned about blogs a few weeks ago, and now I discover the wonderful world of wikis! Seriously, I am grateful to Rebecca Blood for pointing me in the direction of blogs about Place. Fred's Fragments from Floyd site got me here. My name is Beth Westmark, and my current blog can be found at http://longleaf.typepad.com/switched_at_birth. It has a few essays about a place dear to my heart in Rice Cove, North Carolina (near Asheville). There is one blog there called Sanctuary at Longleaf. That is actually the core for a different blog site which I'll be working on this weekend. Longleaf is 100 acres of pine woods near Pensacola, Florida. We are reforesting it in the old-fashioned (not very commercially viable, but beautiful) long leaf pine trees. We live there slightly more than half the year right now in what we call our little cabin in the woods. The property has several natural springs, a wetlands area with several types of pitcher plants, dirt roads and doodle bugs. I'm intensely in love with both places. I have just begun to discover some really fine writing (and photos) at Bowen Island Journal, fieldnotes and fragments from floyd, and look forward to discovering more in the weeks to come. Sincerely, Beth W. (moved from top to the bottom end of the chronology, in good wiki form, by Fred... hope that's okay Beth, and welcome to the wiki!)
Betsy Martens with Lake Forest Open Lands in northeastern Illinois. We've just completed our new website which is all about place in its many dimensions in the natural world. For the last 35 years we've been working to preserve open lands for all. We have pristine prairie as well as restoration prairie, woodland trails, oak savannas -- close to 700 acres. You can find maps of our preserves here [4], so if you're at all in the neighborhood, come for a visit. We run an Eco-Adventure camp each summer where we're training young children in a sense of stewardship for the land. One of my favorite things about camp is that each child finds his or her own secret spot, a private spot for sitting, listening, and writing in their journal. Each child thus learns from an early age, and in a very direct way, what "a sense of place" means.
Hi. I'm Christine, an author, freelance writer, photographer and grad student, among other things. You can view my work at http://www.minecountry.com and at http://www.christinegoldbeck.com I am glad to have found this site as my art is very much place-based. I was born, raised and still live and work in the Appalachian Pennsylvania Anthracite Region. I look forward to discussion/participation with all of you. By the way, your topics are outstanding.
Welcome, Christine. Wonderful to have someone with your interests--artistic and regional--join the wiki. Please feel encouraged to join in the discussions, add pieces, and so on. (Just because a topic was dated August 15, say, doesn't mean you can't still add to that topic!) -- Alison
Heyup, my name is Demian and I'm new to blogs/wikis/ecotone. I'm not sure if [Guild of Ghostwriters] is a blog about place but I couldn't ignore the coffee shop topic.
Hello, all. My name is Lorianne Schaub, and I'm a writer & college instructor in Keene, NH. Since I focus on place in both my academic research & creative writing focus, I was happy to find this site. Although I don't keep a daily weblog, I do publish a semimonthly column [Pedestrian Thoughts] based on my walks in & around Keene. You can learn more about me at http://www.lorianneschaub.com Thanks for making this resource available, and happy exploring!
Hi, I'm Andy and I think I'm doing this backwards, having put up a post on the bi-weekly topic without first introducing myself. Ah well... It was only recently that I realised a number of blogs that I read regularly all have a strong element of place, and all post here also. And without planning it that way, quite a few of my own posts at [older and growing] also fall into that category, so coming here it seemed kinda logical...
Nancy (ntexas99) from San Antonio, TX. I've stumbled into a circle of blogs that I find fascinating, and I look forward to exploring more as time permits. You can view my new blog at http://www.braincrayons.com/index.php. My blog is more centered on writing and humanity versus nature and place, although I also have a deep appreciation for all things wet and wooded. I eagerly anticipate discovering new places through ecotone. Even though it may not be my birthday, I'll enjoy unwrapping this gift anyway!
Tom Montag - Fairwater, WI. I have always been interested in place and writing about place and I am developing a class on thinking and writing about place. I am also currently working on a book project attempting to understand what makes us middle western and to tell the stories about what makes us who we are. Project is called "Vagabond In the Middle: An Expedition Into the Heart of the Middle West." I have selected one community in each of the 12 middle western states as my "focus communities" and I will visit each of these over the next five or six years, interviewing residents, sharing their lives and celebrations, and writing of it. To date I have interviewed 99 people from all but one of my 12 communities, and the work goes on. To report on my progress, I issue an irregular hard-copy newsletter made up of entries from my Vagabond journal; and I also load journal entries to my web site: www.wlhn.org/vagabond . I am pleased with what I am finding on this site.
Update - 2-9-04: Now I have established a blog about place/the middle west at: http://middlewesterner.blogspot.com/
[Joe Newman] in Sanford, FL. I have to admit I'm a little like Beth up there. I just started blogging about a month ago and haven't figured out RSS feeds and permalinks yet... and now I stumble upon Wikis! My blog [First-n-Main] is about growth, the environment and urban design. I suppose sense of place is what you get when those three things converge (crash?). Those are also the topics I write about for a living at the [Orlando Sentinel]. I'm looking forward to following the discussion.
Hallo there - I am jaihn, and I live in London, UK. My first weblog, 'mediations' is at http://jaihngems.blogspot.com/ Sometimes I write about where-ness, and sometimes that's from my perspective as a wheelchair-user.
I found the lovely Ecotone via http://airenet.co.uk/alife/ last night - and have linked to both on my entry tonight.
As I said in that: it was through a sense of place that I found this site. I look forward to learning the wiki ways, and hope to contribute to the OceanandSea? gathering. I have this week opened my new pages - the whalefile, at http://whalefile.blogspot.com/ and seahear, at http://seahear.blogspot.com/
I'll trust the synchro-nicety (spelling intentional) and keep following this good-feeling trail... Thank you for all the Good work I have glimpsed - I look forward to further explorations, in time. x Right now it is time I stopped gazing at my pixels...the wee small hours of Monday, 23rd February, 2004.
Hi I'm Greg Perry of Amesbury, Mass. I've been blogging for a few weeks now mostly on poetry and nature. The blog description for the most part says it all: poetry blog, nature ramble, and pop review (byte-sized and organic, sometimes fermented, never dry). The blog is called [g r a p e z]. I'm brand new to wikis though, and am excited about finding this one. I'm gonna run now and look around this place some more. (it dawned on me that I placed this at the top rather than the bottom of the page where it's supposed to go. apologies (3.12)
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