a Geographer's Place

Fieldwork. MY kind of fieldwork involves two things: working hard and playing hard. Yes, there’s also safety, planning, getting equipment and funding, etc., etc., blah, blah. But it all comes down to working and playing. It’s my goal to instill the kind of fieldwork I learned into the hearts of my students—those brave enough to embark on excursions with me. Because the only way to really learn it, is to do it. Fieldwork can be trying, rigorous, dangerous, challenging, and frustrating. In my eyes at least, it should also be fun. Sure you may get very hot or super cold, be extremely dry or soaking wet, and sweat like a puerco estacado . But you’ll also be richly rewarded...if not with good, usable data, then with experience that will, hopefully later, lead to wisdom. So here I am, in my little apartment on my beloved Island of Grenada in the Caribbean while students scamper around the Island on the annual G.R.E.N.A.D.A. ( G o, R un, E xplore N ew A nd D iverse A reas). All part o...

I'm writing this post for a friend who suggested I chronicle my recent life events. So here we go... After my father died, my mother had a LOT to maintain: several horses on several acres means fence repairs, irrigating the pasture, feeding the horses, maintaining the out buildings, and more. We tried, unsuccessfully, for a couple years to get her to "right-size". Not down-size, since smaller isn't necessarily better. But find the size that was right for her. Apparently, she thought the farm was her right-size (though even she admitted she couldn't handle all it entailed...so was it her right-size?) Over the last couple years, I've reflected on the idea of "right-sizing" and found it quite helpful. How much "stuff" do I really need? How large of a living space do I really need? I've never had much stuff to begin with, but I have even less now it seems. It's nice. I live downtown in a studio-size place (renting rig...

According to the geologic era/epoch/period format, we live in the "Holocene"--the last 10,000 years or so. But for some years now, some academic folks have claimed human influence on the Earth has been dramatic. (Actually, they don't call it "human", since that would be sexist (it has "man" in it). They instead use the term "anthropogenic" ( human-created ). Anyway, because of the apparent extreme anthropogenic influence, some academics say we've moved out of the Holocene and into a new geologic epoch called the Anthropocene . They cite evidence that since the industrial revolution (that's usually the start-time), human--I mean anthropogenic --influence has really been the key factor shaping Earth. Good argument, sure. Good evidence, yes. I've heard and read good arguments on both sides. But still, the term has a difficult time catching on in Science. Maybe we don't want to admit the influence we've had...Maybe we're ...

I come from a family of basketball and softball players. My mother was an avid softball player--she could play any position very well. She got offered a position on the American Girls Baseball League, but had to turn it down to help raise her siblings and run the farm. But I remember her teaching me the fundamentals. Apparently my dad was a great basketball player in his youth, and I've heard stories about how good he was from his friends. He played hard. I'm talking like Jerry Sloan hard: tough screens, elbows out, strong drives. And he played the same even into his late 60s. My first real basketball education came while living in Mexico with Cameron and playing on a city league-ish team. I had just turned 15 years old and didn't know how to "box out" or "crash boards". I came back from Mexico with good skills in each (thanks, Cameron). Once at Weber State, Cameron and I played many a pick-up game, where I gained even more pointers and refined my skills...

It started with a short trip to do fieldwork in NYC with a grad student who studies "New Media". (This is why I enjoy Geography: it allows me to study just about anything). And what's NYC without Broadway? To celebrate completing part of the fieldwork, we saw a few Broadway plays--one of which was Wishful Drinking , Carrie Fisher's one woman show based on her recent book (and life). Reviews for the show were very good, so we were expecting a good time. We also heard she was interactive with the audience...It was, I must say, an excellent, interesting, silly, and bawdy performance. I am now vehemently and ardently a Carrie Fisher fan--and not just because of how good a time we had, but because of her as a person.  For those who don't know, Carrie Fisher = Princess Leia in Star Wars  so, amongst talking about other interesting times in her life, she also spent time discussing her Star Wars past--how she unknowingly made a commitment to stay in her 23-year-old physi...

For probably two decades my favorite cold cereal has been Lucky Charms . They’re "magically delicious," you see. I love the little marshmellow shapes and colors. However, a fortnight ago I bought a box of Trix because they were on sale (try $1.67 for a 20 oz. box!) And you know what? They’re gooooood. Fruity, crunchy, really brightly colored, and they take a long time to get soggy—not to mention the wonderfully-flavored milk! After having that first bowl of Trix , I have yet to look back to the “magically delicious” Charms . Perhaps it’s like it says on the box top: “Trix are for kids”. Indeed.

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 traditional  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 a digital camera—to capture those phenomena I am observing and analyzing visually. Of course, nowadays we have the ubiquitous cell phone. And it can function as a field journal/notebook and a really nice camera. Plus an audio and visual recording device, among other things. So, it's ...