The Systems of Place

April 30, 2010

My place is a system. A natural system in one sense, a human system in another. Leaves, branches, and needles decompose, nutrients are released into the soil, trees and wildflowers grow out of the earth, animals eat the seeds and cones and spread new generations of the plants. People come to sit on the stump, they meditate for a period of time, a sense of peace or enrichment is achieved, the visitor leaves, and eventually returns. This spot is an educational system as well. It shows the diverse interactions that can occur as part of and within an urban environment, and can lend insight as to what could be improved in a stretch of city woods.

My place in this system is the watcher, the squirrel intimidator, the one intimidated by seagulls. I witness what is constantly happening here everyday, but that never gets noticed because of its location. I serve as the scribe of this spot, recording the weak trees, the lone squirrel calling to her family across the block, the woodpecker holes scattered like artillery wounds across the pines, the way the sun hits one place, but not the other, leaving a clear difference between the two. I am also a caretaker. I choose not to drive a car to limit my carbon footprint and effect on the system. I try to keep people from walking across the same area over and over to avoid the breaking of roots. I tell people that, even though an area is not heavily wooded does not mean that it isn’t important for the enrichment of both animals and humans.

This place has surprised me. My initial visits were purely out of necessity due to mobility issues, and I found the place to be, well, pathetic. The pine limbs are sparse, there are a few lonely hardwoods, the shrubbery looked grumpy, and so much sun came through the canopy. But somehow, my place came to grow on me, which after the things I just listed, was a bit surprising. It was comforting to know that, without a long hike, a bike ride, or a car adventure, I had access to a spot that was just as natural as any of my other options. Perhaps it has been very much impacted by humanity, but we are a part of nature as well, and it will be interesting to see how humans and nature have changed this spot in fifty years. The signs of wildlife was also a revelation for me, as I came to realize, despite having been told this, that animals will adapt to an area if it has ample food and shelter space for them. I saw woodpeckers, squirrels, a cardinal, chickadees, and other small birds, and it was wonderful to see that a little fragmentation was not keeping them from living here in Burlington. This has encouraged me, made me hopeful that the adaptability of these creatures to live in an urban environment will carry over to influence their response to climate change. My place has given me comfort and fostered my curiosity about the world around me within Burlington, a place I had once discounted as being too urban for me, and for that I am grateful.