Megan Geers- My wilderness is my room!

So if the wilderness is supposed to be a scary unknown, unsettled place then one could argue that the dorm rooms on campus are unknown territory, just that. White washed bricks and plain wooden desks make the room at first glance look like a prison. It scared me that the next few months I would be expected to concentrate in this bare white life-less room. But I'm sure if the walls could talk they would tell at least a few years of history, but so would the woods outside right? I had to cover the walls with some type of color so now posters line my walls along with a number of knick-knacks that mean something to me. So I guess one could digress that now my scary wilderness room has been transported into a place of sacred security. Now I feel safe here...how strange. I take for granted that the room used to be unknown and scary to me and it could have been any room in this building but by luck of the draw it was this second-story room. How weird is it that places can change connotations so fast?

Megan Geers- Democracy in Danger

I just came back from the panel and it was very informative. I particularly agreed with the part of the argument that money takes a higher precedent than the land itself. It does seem like the new and improved religion is the "almighty dollar" rather than praising of the holy land or even just appreciating one spot for its beauty or splendor. If this is so, have we all lost our souls? Do we really have no appreciation for anything besides our own self gain anymore? Did we ever have that appreciation to begin with? Its a sad thought...Along with the thought that everything we believed to be true and just will eventually collapse around us to be replaced by a different and possibly better regime. What if this new form of rule doesn't even need us, the people? Then we'll really be screwed...I hope this never happens while I'm still alive, but it will eventually happen whether it's during my time, my childrens, or my children's childrens and so on. It's a real downer. I guess that's why we have to escape into our imaginations every once in awhile. We have to get away from this sad reality.

Elizabeth Watkins - Lane's Book (Axioms)

I've been really trying to understand Lane's book more and to do this I've been trying to relate to the book. For example, if I'm reading a chapter on Giving Voice to Place, I try to find examples in my life that will serve as a better understanding for what I'm reading. If that is not possible, I try to think of fictional examples that would work just as well. I really could relate to the chapter on Axioms for the Study of Sacred Place, however. To me the Four Axioms for Sacred Place make complete sense to me. The axioms reveal the other-worldly power of sacred place. They reveal sacred place as very assertive, also. I focused in on axiom number three. This axiom states that "sacred place can be tred upon without being entered". I definitely feel that I can relate to this axiom. Upon our trip to Noland Trail I felt after I left that this was most definitely the case for me. I had found a spot on the Noland Trail that I decided to write about for my essay. It was beautiful and, to me, a very powerful place. The place was a steep fall into the Maury Lake and at the bottom was a fallen tree that was floating on the lake. The tree was not dead, but appeared as if it was giving in to the power of the water. What makes me sad is that if you had asked me whether or not I saw that place as sacred, I would say no. However, looking back I do believe that I was in a sacred place without realizing it, which is the premise of Lane's third axiom. This serves as a wake up call to me. I now see the importance of really understanding the places around you. And I feel upset that I fell victim to going to a place that was probably sacred and not realizing it.

Elizabeth Watkins - Our Trip to Noland Trail

On Tuesday, our class took the day to go over to Noland Trail and explore. I had never been there before and did not know what to expect. When the professor dropped off the first car load and told us to walk towards the field next to the river, I was really surprised at what I thought of the place. The river was absolutely beautiful. The waves lapped onto the shore and the setting was so serene. If you looked past the shore you could see a blob of trees across shore that were so far away that it made the river seem almost endless. After walking that path, we all came together and the class as a whole began on the Noland Trail. I learned a lot about nature. I was surprised at the things that Dr. Redick picked up on that I would never have noticed. He told us that we could really learn from a place and learn its story if we just listen and observe and think about what we see and how it got there. For example, Dr. Redick picked up a branch and shook the dead fall leaves that made an interesting musical sound. He then asked if we would expect to hear that sound from leaves in the spring. The answer was most definitely not. However, I never would have picked up on something like that on my own. This trip taught me to look at our natural world in a different way. I can learn a lot from just observing and really get to know the world around me.

Megan Geers-The Damn Rain

On the regular, I usually enjoy walking in the rain and dancing around outside. Just feeling the mud sqiush between my toes and slapping my wet hair across my face as I move. I feel totally connected to everything and at the same time free and uninhibited, unafraid of being judged by anyone. But this Friday I was so looking forward to going to Halloscream at Busch Gardens and getting the crap scared out of me. The stupid, wonderful, freeing rain prevented me from it though. The park closed at eight o clock because there was no one there. The campus was completely covered with water, flooded. This made me think about how we underestimate nature, we can't control it. In more ways than one, it controls us. It's scary to think that nature decided my plans of getting scared out of my mind were unfit for this friday night. So I just stayed in with my guests and watch a horror flick, damning my favorite part of nature for being my enemy that night.

Megan Geers- Lane's expericences in the mountains

In Lane's book he tells a story about how he went up in the mountains with his wife and felt so moved by the splendour around him that when he was in a nearby forest that same day he felt like he should give something back to the trees i.e. nature in general. He said blessings then ran around the entire forest touching every tree in sight, with his excitement. I can imagine the connection he must have been feeling especially with the baby trees because when your a grandfather the parenting gene is sort of built in. I'm sure he would wish the same kind of happy tree-life for these baby saplings as he would wish to provide a wonderful life for all of his children and grandchildren. It was kind of touching, really, to read about such a bond.

Megan Geers- Lane's book

I think the wilderness works to mask us from it's holiness. Mostly every wilderness in the U.S. that I've seen has looked exactly the same and yet there is a different aura to every part. In Alaska, there are many mountains and trees and waterfalls...I remember riding on a mountain road in alaska and almost hanging off the side of it as we drove along. It was beautiful and scary at the same time, so according to our book I guess it would be sublime. When we got out to take pictures, I tried to wander and there was an almost instant feeling of power among the nature there. It was not very holy as much as it was mysterious, something extraordinary had happened there although it looked like an ordinary mountain wilderness. For about half an hour I felt like I had jumped into a book.