{"id":1018,"date":"2012-09-12T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myownashram.com\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2012-09-12T09:00:26","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T16:00:26","slug":"land-as-lover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2012\/09\/12\/land-as-lover\/","title":{"rendered":"Land as Lover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Inspired by The Spell of the Sensuous<\/em> I want to explore\u00a0more personally what Land and Place mean to me.<\/p>\n

David Abram talks about geography as a container. More than just mountains that enclose or fields that spread out, land shapes our views of the world, our experiences with future places, how we perceive time and seasons, how communities function, and how we relate the non-human world. I see this so clearly from my own upbringing in Juneau, Alaska. It has so profoundly shaped me that, even though I\u2019ve not lived there for a decade, I still consider myself an Alaskan first \u2013 even before being an American.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
My friend Jennie came to visit from Seattle. She thought having an actual end of the road was hilarious. 1994.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Juneau is small-ish in population, but spread out over a 50 mile strip of land, clinging to 3- and 4,000 feet tall mountains, hemmed in by glaciers and water ways. You cannot drive in or out. It sits in a fjord, in one of North America\u2019s largest, oldest rain forests. Black bears in your backyard, deer eating your garden flowers (that bloom for about 6 weeks), porcupine, whales, bald eagles, ravens larger than any I\u2019ve ever seen elsewhere\u2026. all normal inhabitants.<\/p>\n

How did these things affect me?<\/p>\n

The mountains and water, the ice fields and forests helped me feel safe. Of course, you could die if you hiked off trail or went boating in bad weather. I went on one epic hike when I was 18, a hike that was supposed to be about 9 or 10 hours (from Sheep Creek up and over the ridge and down Mount Roberts). It ended up taking us 18 hours. I nearly slid off one of the peaks into a gully from 5,000 feet. It\u2019s not a gentle landscape! And yet\u2026. I felt, still feel, that with proper respect (which includes preparation) I was safer there than in most other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A picture I took of my dad in 1987. On our boat somewhere in SE Alaska, fishing at sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I left Alaska for college I couldn\u2019t wrap my head around how it was possible to cross a street and be in a different town. It took me many years to understand that. Perhaps this is why maps and geography are so important to me. I want to know the shapes and boundaries of towns.<\/p>\n

I felt something divine in the land. I was a Christian in my teen years, and yet I still felt God\u2019s existence and presence in the land around me. It wasn\u2019t just an idea that God had made the land, but more that the land was an expression of God and he comforted me and spoke to me through the land itself. I\u2019m not sure I could have articulated that then.<\/p>\n

I grew up around people that used the land. They used it to feed their families; they used it for their occupation. By \u2018using\u2019 I mean, they worked with the land. The men and women I grew up around knew that the land was the source of their livelihood, whether that was building infrastructure during the opening of ANWR and the pipeline in the late \u201970s, or working as fishermen. The land provided\u2026.. and the land, if not worked with<\/em>, if not respected, could take away as well. There is no power over the land in Alaska, only power with.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Me, hiking the Chilkoot Trail between Skagway, AK, and the Yukon, Canada. Most people take a week to do this. My crew did it in less than 3 days. Not sure that was wise\u2026 1999 (I think).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, that\u2019s one of the things that amused me when I lived in Wales \u2013 there was nothing that could kill you in the land. Sure, you could get too drunk and fall off a cliff. But the weather is generally mild and none fo the animals were predators of humans. If you got lost on a hike or walk, just keep going and you\u2019ll hit some one\u2019s farm. Get lost in Alaska and no one will see you again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Our friend Tim (may he be at peace) took this of me and Jennie. He led us hiking under the Mendenhall Glacier. This part of the glacier has since melted far away. 1995.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Something else that has affected me my entire life is the disparity of light in the seasons. I never suffered seasonal affective disorder, though I know many people who do, who have, or have some variation of it. We have 18 hour days in the summer with extended twilight; 18 hour nights in the winter. Until only recently I\u2019ve always felt that the days were never long enough in June, never dark enough in December. This was especially hard for me when I lived in California.<\/p>\n

It rains so much in SE Alaska that autumn is truly only 10 days at the end of August. Spring is about 2 weeks at the end of May or early June. October was always my least favorite month. It wasn\u2019t until I lived in Washington that I learned that October is AMAZING. It is now my favorite month. Perhaps this is why fall is now my favorite season. Autumn makes me giddy! Spring is also a joyous surprise every year. Grow up with only two seasons, and the 4 season climate is something of a revelation. Each year I get two extra seasons! It\u2019s like nature gives me a present every three months!<\/p>\n

Light, dark, rain, water, fish, mountains\u2026. I was in love with my Land. In fact, for over a decade I felt like I was in an adulterous relationship. Alaska was my lover and I was cheating every time I flew to Washington to start another year of college. I was cheating when I moved to grad school in Berkeley. I figured Alaska was my childhood sweetheart and I\u2019d be back when I was ready to settle down. I always, always<\/em> intended to return.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Me visiting Juneau in March 2004. Mendenhall Wetlands and my then dog, Dawson, named after the town in the Yukon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This rather dysfunctional relationship with my Land, as foundational and beautiful as it was to me, also kept me from diving deep into other lands and places. It took me a long time to settle into the Bay Area, into Washington. The only places that were never a struggle for me were Ireland and Wales. If I\u2019m honest, that separation from Alaska made me feel broken.<\/p>\n

What was wrong with me that I couldn\u2019t adjust to other places? Why was I so overwhelmed in cities? I did just fine on an intellectual level: I loved the energy, the opportunities, the food, the excitement. But at a core level, I was so deeply overwhelmed, like there were was too much buzzing, too much noise, too MUCH all the time. Why did I need trees the way most people need food? No one else I knew (other than people from Juneau) wanted to return to their home towns. Everyone wanted to flee. Why was I unable to function in cities? I felt like I was failing as an adult. It\u2019s not something I ever really talked about, but I felt it. My two-week vacations home once a year were not feeding my soul.<\/p>\n

I needed to break up with Alaska. Moving to Wales, not moving back to Alaska, was a good first step. And finally, at some point while there I realized that Alaska was a part of me and I took my Land with me<\/strong> where ever I went. I may have to spend the next 25 years working to know the land I\u2019ve chosen as home now, but it\u2019s possible. I no longer feel broken. I feel full and blessed to have been given the gift of Place and Land in a way that seems rare these days.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired by The Spell of the Sensuous I want to explore\u00a0more personally what Land and Place mean to me. David Abram talks about geography as a container. More than just mountains that enclose or fields that spread out, land shapes our views of the world, our experiences with future places, how we perceive time and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30,36,44,1,64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alaska","category-land","category-my-heart","category-place","category-uncategorized","category-washington"],"yoast_head":"\nLand as Lover<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inspired by The Spell of the Sensuous I want to explore\u00a0more personally what Land and Place mean to me. 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