a Geographer's Place

Someone left an anonymous comment asking what tools I use as a Geographer. This comes at a great time since I just discussed this with my class last week. I’ve written a little about the Ways of the Geographer and also what Geographers do . I’ve also put together a baby Treatise of Geography and reworked a classic Primer on Fieldwork . And that’s where I’d start: fieldwork. IMHO fieldwork of any kind is THE Geographer’s tool. Describing the earth requires being IN it...and fieldwork makes that happen. But, if I had to list more conventional tools, first on my list would be my field journal/notebook. This serves to record everything I do, observe, and analyze in the field. Second would be my digital camera—to capture those phenomena I am observing and analyzing. After those, more specialized tools might appear in my cache based on what I intend to study. Depending on the situation (“human” or “physical”), I might use any or all of: passport, GPS unit, clinometer (to measure slope and ...

It took three days and nearly 1000 miles, but I finally arrived at my new digs in Denver, CO. All of my things fit snugly in a 5’ x 8’ U-haul trailer and the back of my Jeep. The third-floor apartment (with five flights of stairs) is spacious for a one-bedroom, and located in a gentrified/gentrifying area. The deck faces south-southwest, and looks over the green tree tops of neighborhoods while providing a beautiful view of the Front Range (Rocky Mountains). The summer thunderstorms put on spectacular lightning shows in the evenings. It was a bear to move-in, what with five flights of stairs and all—my calves took four days or so to recover from the torturous stairmaster experience. But the views are sooooo worth it! My campus office is nice too. It’s the rare corner office on campus. Apparently it was created a decade ago for a Department Chair, so I have this terrific 180-degree west-and-north view. Although the architecture (both inside and out) leaves something to be desired, the ...

As I sit here in my IKEA Poäng chair amidst boxes, I’m reminded how it’s the simple things that really make my life enjoyable. I have very few things . And what I do have are good quality items. I've learned to pursue good quality over the years. It’s a personal choice, but I’d rather have one very nice thing than a dozen mediocre things . Living in apartments for the past several years, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, and most folks have very large trailers. I’ve always wondered how they fit all that stuff in a tiny 600 or 700 square foot place—even 1000 square feet. My mind then wanders to how they acquired all that stuff. Where do they store all that stuff? And WHY do they store it? Is it something in our genetic code that says, “Look…we might need this in the future, so we’d best keep it…” Sure, I see the logic in that genetic trait. But unless you’re consistently using the stuff, why keep it? I have a great friend who LOVES books. She always reads the latest novels....

After returning from Europe for the first time, I made a self-pact; a goal, really. I told myself I was going to visit at least one country per year of my life. If that meant I had a few years where I had to miss, that was okay. It could be made-up by traveling to more than one country in the following years. The only thing I wanted to avoid was being 85 and having only visited 60 countries (try visiting 25 countries when you’re 85—you’ve probably already visited all the “comfortable” countries!) I’ve been pretty good with this goal since then. As of today, I’m five countries short of my goal. But the only reason why I’ve missed the goal the past few years is that I’ve visited some countries more than once (and some several times). I view travel as a way to destroy stereotypes. It’s also a terrific way to learn, grow, and expand the mind. Especially if you really get into the place (like, avoid staying at five-star places the entire time because it removes you from everyday fol...

The other day I wrote about the high temperatures we have had (the Valley of the Sun IS the desert, after all). Some would say it’s due to global warming. But then, yesterday (Wednesday) the temperature dropped dramatically—to the mid 80s. Today (Thursday) it’s below 80. And it has RAINED most the day. In fact, it’s raining as I write this! Hard. Global warming? Well, most scientists are careful to use the term “climate change” rather than “global warming” nowadays, since evidence of the earth “warming” is ONLY similar to what has happened in our past (I’m talking geological time-scale). What scientists DO know is that climate is changing—more so in some places than others, it seems. So, warming? Well, only in some places. Other places are actually getting cooler ! Go figure. While fires rage in California, a single State away, it’s pouring rain…it’s even snowing—right now!—on parts of the Colorado Plateau! But that’s science: uncertain, yet attempting to make sense of trends and pat...

Yesterday the Valley of the Sun SMASHED its previous May record for Temperature. We hit 110 degrees. To get a sense of 110 degrees in a “dry heat”, try this: Set your oven to 110. When it reaches the appropriate temperature, sit in front of the oven and open the door. The term “dry heat” is silly, when you think about it. That implies there must be a “wet heat”? I mean, anything over 98 degrees is hot—even if you’re naked. Anything over 110 degrees is BLOODY hot (even if you are naked)! And studies show that after 117 degrees, the body stops functioning normally. Having lived in both “dry” and “wet” heats (the US Southwest, the Amazon, Grenada), I would have to say each “form” of “heat” is equally (in)tolerable. I’m convinced this is the reason natives in “hot” regions are naked or nearly-naked. When I was in the Amazon Jungle for example, as soon as I shed my “modern” clothes for a yanchama (bark skirt of the Bora Tribe), I immediately felt cooler. LOTS cooler. So, “dry heat”...

Today I got “hooded”. The entire ceremony was about two hours—though it felt like longer. This is one of the rituals accompanying advanced degree awarding in Academia. The entire graduation ceremony is based on medieval practices, so it has robes, gowns, hats (mitres?), and other vestments, like hoods (see image). For a PhD degree, the hood is traditionally dark blue (#1 in the image). The robe is usually black with different colored “piping” (the stripes down the middle) and chevrons (hash marks on the sleeves). Although many schools are going with other-than-black colors for robes (mine was maroon). In Academia, the regalia can get quite outlandish! Each robe has different piping and chevrons…every (undergraduate) discipline also has its associated color (for example, education = light blue, natural sciences = gold). And each school can be as creative as they want. Oxford (UK) has some particularly interesting garb…their “tam” (hat) alone is a sight to behold! (just google “oxford ac...

I've moved, on average, once per year since I was 23 years old. That’s a lot. I have a cousin who LOVES to move. “It’s like Christmas,” she told me once. “I get to open boxes and boxes of stuff! And if I forget to label them, it’s like a huge surprise!” She’s an optimist. Moving every year or so certainly keeps down the clutter: how many folks who’ve collected stuff for 12 years can fit everything they own in a 6 x 12 U-Haul trailer? But then, I'm also rather minimal when it comes to material things. Whether that’s been by choice or circumstance, who knows…I like to think it’s by choice. I am looking forward to being “stable” for a while. You know, put down some roots. Live in one place for more than a couple years. Get involved in the community without knowing I'll be leaving shortly. Although that will have to wait, since I'll just be moving to another, temporary apartment until I have time to find the home and location I want. Until then I’ll just pretend...

This is St. Francis Basilica in Santa Fe, New Mexico (at night). On the way back from finding a place to live in Denver , I spent a day here. While the surrounding suburbs are becoming more modern, the old downtown area remains charming. Surrounding the plaza and kiosko , are old Spanish churches and cute shops. The shops have everything from clothes and indigenous handicrafts to bronze sculptures and a plethora of different chile peppers. A few blocks off the plaza is San Miguel church (sign below), and interesting piece of Southwestern history... After wandering around the old town for a while, I ate a wonderful dinner at Los Mayas —a three-generation-old restaurant complete with live music (an old Spanish guitarist who was a really great entertainer). Santa Fe makes a nice getaway. Not as loud and citified as say, San Antonio or Tucson. Just a nice place to relax and wander. There are also lots of nice, easy day trips available. And several Clint Eastwood westerns were filmed in th...

For those who don’t know it, one of my interests is the US-Mexico border. Last weekend, a professor and myself took some students to investigate the towns of Sasabe, Arizona and Sasabe, Mexico in the Altar Valley. (Go find it on a map…pic below). In Sasabe, AZ, there are maybe a few dozen residents with a single store (that has EVERYthing—literally…mattresses, shoes, pork & beans, curling irons, Fruit Loops, you name it!) and post office; ranching is the main form of livelihood. In Sasabe, Mexico we estimated the population to be 3,000 to 4,000 people. The main form of livelihood in Sasabe, MX is anyone’s guess...the town is not much to speak of, as this photo shows. One thing that IS present? The ever-watchful eye of “Big Brother”. The US Border patrol has a real, on-the-ground fence (see pic), mobile watchtowers (see pic), and a virtual fence that looks like a radio tower but is actually a sophisticated surveillance system, complete with 24/7 Pinkerton security! The US-Mexico...

I have a friend who says, “Laughing: it’s like jogging for your insides.” Indeed! Few things are better than a good guffaw. While there are many different types of laughs, any laugh is a good sign of happiness. Take the song I Love to Laugh from the Disney version of Mary Poppins . It outlines many of the various ways people laugh: through their noses, hissing, blasting, fast, “twitter like birds”, and a myriad of other ways. I've seen people laugh with their entire body! Have you ever laughed until you’re crying? How about laughing so much your stomach hurts? See…laughing like that is a workout! I’ve laughed so much that I’ve been sore the following morning. What a great feeling! And a couple years ago health scientists at Vanderbilt University found that 10 to 15 minutes of hearty laughing per day can burn up to 50 calories! That’s about 1.5 calories per minute (in comparison, jogging burns 10 calories per minute). That means, if you laugh 15 minutes a day, you lose the calori...

One of my longer blogs, but intriguing nonetheless… A marvelous person sent me this article from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/books/14dumb.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=2c9bff2541865fdc&ex=1203570000 It got me thinking…One of my eccentricities is people-watching. For example, I can spend hours sitting at the food court in a mall—or any other place—just watching people. In all my time people-watching and observing, and spurred on by this article, it occurred to me that for years I have been classifying people based on what I call “brain power”. Hey, it’s what scientists love to do: classify things! I categorize brain power into six types: Intelligent, Smart, Clever, Ingenious, Unaware, and Naïve. Now, by “brain power”, I mean the way people attain and use knowledge. In a thesaurus, intelligent & smart are synonyms; so are clever & ingenious and unaware & naïve, respectively. But when I say someone is “smart”, I mean something differ...

After returning to the States after more than two months in the Middle East, I remember going through US Customs at JFK (New York) airport. Here’s how it went:   “Where have you been?” the Customs Officer asked me. “Umm, let’s see…Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey—I loved Turkey,” I gushed. “How long have you been out of the country?” he said in a stern tone. “Oh, a few months,” I responded. “Where’s your luggage?” “Right here on my back, sir,” I replied. “Bringing back any trinkets? Any souvenirs?” he said, eyeing me. “Just pictures, memories, and my travel journal,” I said. He waved me through, but I had a sneaking suspicion he thought I was trying to sneak something illicit into the country. How could someone spend two months traveling without buying a single souvenir? Easy: travel light and make memories your souvenirs rather than material possessions. Now, I’ll admit every once in while I purchase something overseas (usually for someone else). But there...

Today I successfully defended my dissertation. That means I now have the “privilege” of a title and a moniker. Sexy. The question looming in front of me now is, “Which do I use”? Titles precede a name and monikers go after it. So, do I use “Dr. Allen” or “Dr. Case” or “Dr. A” (that sort of sounds kewl), or should it be “Casey Allen, PhD” or “C.D. Allen, PhD”? Or should I even exercise the privilege? For me, it means little either way…Titles often seem arrogant to me, even if they can denote valuable accomplishments. But just because someone has a title, does that make them “special” or better than people without one? Does it endow them with privilege? Well, perhaps in a way it does, since society tends to place value on such things. Most diplomas from the Powers That Be (PTB) have a little phrase like, “…with all rights, powers, and privilege as set forth by those in authority…” But what does that actually mean? Just because I’ve achieved a certain level of education—jumped through a ...

I was trained to travel cheaply. Well, maybe “cheap” is the wrong word. Frugal is a better choice. Yes, I travel frugally, depending on my given budget. Preferring to crawl around odd sites and discover obscure views, I will give up a swanky hotel most anytime. When you think about it, while traveling, a hotel is simply a place to wash-up and lay your head for the evening. While Spartan accommodations can leave some people cold (pun intended), they can be beneficial. Take, for example, the place in this picture: This is an $8 room in Lima, Peru: just a place to lay your head and maybe write a post card. But what else do you need? You should be out and about exploring, right? Okay, okay…so once in a while it’s nice to stay in a five star palace and be taken care of (I have done that several times). However, if I had to choose between posh lodging or an extra destination, pyramid, cathedral, ruin, or museum (and I usually do), I’d pass on the feathery comforter, room service, and bell...

One of my hobbies is studying mythology. All peoples and cultures have myths, many of which are rooted in actual events. Myths are, in their simplest form, stories passed down generation to generation. Each one usually has a moral. Some are very exciting epics, others are tales of loneliness, still others are comedic, ALL are interesting. And for me, the similarities between myths are VERY alluring. Many decades ago, Joseph Campbell ( the authority on mythology) wrote a book called, “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” (1949), where he compared myths from many different cultures. Through the decades, he revised and updated the book to include “new” myths. (For Star Wars fans, George Lucas relied heavily on Joseph Campbell’s works when creating his epic battle of light vs. dark). THAT is what fascinates me about mythology. So many different peoples and cultures separated by thousands of miles of ominous terrain and dangerous oceans, yet many have common stories and, even more intriguing...

Next to dessert, breakfast is my favorite meal. A good, hearty breakfast always helps me feel charged and ready for the day. While I can eat cold cereal with the best of them, handle a simple toast-and-juice breakfast, and enjoy a “European” breakfast (muesli/granola, plain yogurt, juice, fruit, and cold cuts), it’s the hearty breakfasts that are my favorites. Now, while I enjoy cooking in general, I relish the chance to cook a breakfast, especially for other people. There are few things better than seeing folks with a satisfied tummy in the morning. I’ve been lucky to have some really great recipes handed down through my family: everything from Yorkshire Pudding (yes, we eat it for breakfast—apologies to my UK friends) to buckwheat pancakes. And I usually experiment a bit with the recipes until I discover a “secret ingredient” that enhances the breakfast and makes people say, “There’s something in there…I’m just having a hard time figuring it out…” Why do I like breakfast so much...