"Mr. Sauer"

Also for readings this week I really enjoyed Mr. Sauer and the Writers by James Parsons. I have really become to enjoy Mr. Parsons work. It seems every piece I read that he writes is really great work that you can tell he knows the general concept of the history, the cultural, and the physical elements that geography contributes to. In the piece Mr. Sauer and the Writers, Parsons relates how Carl Sauer had taken a big affect on the geography world especially you can see the affect it has one group that Parsons takes about is Charles Olson and the poets of the Black Mountain College. Charles Olsen was so amazed with Carl Sauer large view of cultural landscape and the relations it had to the world, that Olsen had almost become obsessed with Sauer views. He taught Sauer ideas and thoughts on the values of cultural landscape to his poets of the Black Mountain College. So they were amazed and really affected by Carl Sauer that they began to study and write about his ideas. This article really showed how Carl Sauer has affected not just geography students but the whole world. His ideas and thoughts have created a positive impact on society and viewing what is a true landscape and the geography of it. You can truly say Carl Sauer is the godfather of geography.

John McPhee

I was just wondering what John McPhee book everyone is reading? I’m reading Coming into the Country. So far I have really enjoyed the book. McPhee explains through his eyes the cultural and physical geography aspects of the great state of Alaska. McPhee’s friends and him explore the Central part of Alaska, and so far the story is taking place around a river called Salmon River. So far McPhee has really amazed me with his knowledge of the land and even the issues that concern Alaskans today. I choose this book because I was born and raised in a little town in Alaska so I was very familiar with the regions that McPhee talked about. Also reading a topic that is very close and personal to someone makes it enjoyable to read.

Jean de Florette

I have been meaning to write a blog about this movie because it truly displays the concept of using all your sense in examining a geographic landscape. This movie bases all these ideas from urban to rural concepts in farming. It also takes a good look at ordinary landscapes and how they can hold value and beauty by just using all you r senses to observe the landscape. It also shows examples of land stats, regional geography, rural land, isolated, communication and a sense of place. Overall this movie was great to watch and used many themes of perceiving landscapes in a geographic sense.

Great Books to Read

Route 66

I really enjoyed Arthur Krim book “Route 66”. He did such remarkable job in explaining the cultural, physical, historical, political, and also the geographical view of this great highway. He explained every aspect of this highway from early explorers, to the railroad system, and then how it becomes a highway. He also talked about the features that Route 66 represented from books like the “Grapes of Wrath” which is one my favorite books and movies, to also the art that the highway displays, to also the music that Route 66 influenced and many more aspects. I really admired Krim’s maps and photographs in the book. I think this is what made the book go by so fast because his maps really help painted a picture of how Route 66 changed overtime. Also for me, I have never driven on Highway 66 so without these maps I would have been lost on where some this features were located on Highway 66. Reading this book really made me want to go on a big road trip. Right now I’m actually reading Jack Kerouac book “On the Road” and I can already see the connection that the book has with Highway 66. If any one has not read “The Grapes of Wrath” or “On the Road” I really advise people to read it. These are great books that have really influence America’s culture.

J.B Jackson

“Learning from Looking”, by Peirce Lewis was a great essay on learning the concepts of observing cultural landscape. Lewis took many great geographers and there work and he showed us what each of those geographers had to offer in observing a landscape. My favorite part of this essay was when Lewis talks about J.B Jackson. The first time I really learned about Jackson was two years ago in are geography class 106. I have come to really admire J.B Jackson and his ideas of observing a landscape and thinking outside of the box. My favorite line by J.B Jackson is “Before rushing to judge a landscape ugly or beautiful, pause and try to understand how it came to be, and what it says about the people who create it. There is intellectual stimulation everywhere for one who keeps eyes and mind open. There is beauty too” (Lewis, 248). I Believe everyone should live and learn by this quote.

Small Towns

Picture of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.(www.familyoldphotos.com)

I really enjoyed Peirce Lewis piece on Small Town in Pennsylvania. I can really relate to this article because I have grown up in a small town my whole life in Alaska. Where I lived we also depend on the resources that the area gave us. Without fishing or oil my town would disappear. We truly survive on tourist for the fishing and oil for jobs, even though our resources haven’t ran out yet, it is only a matter of time we soon hit an economic crisis like Bellefonte did. I really understand Lewis’s view on small towns. Growing up in a small town makes you appreciate how a region or society needs to work together to make it. Also I think Peirce Lewis is right about the precipitation of small towns, which is that they have played a crucial role in making America the way it is today with economics, the physical environment, history, and technology. My favorite part of this piece was when Lewis was talking about when small towns usually have no plan what so even in planning a city out. He says “There were no geographic rule-books to tell the planners where to place their town or lay out their street; then as now they simply used the conventional wisdom of the day” (Lewis, 334). The issue that bothered me about this article was that I was surprise Lewis wrote about this because even though he lived near the town for fifteen years, he wasn’t born there.

CA Oil Tanks Picture

Here are some oil storage tanks in Elk Hills,CA.(www.oxyenergy.com)

Here is a picture of the oil fields in Buena Vista Hills in California.(content.cdlib.org)

Sweetwater County Pictures

Here is an old photo of how Sweetwater County use to be.(3dparks.wr.usgs.gov)


Here is some sheep in Sweetwater County(http://www.westernfolklife.org/)

Here is a map of Sweetwater County in Wyoming.

Thoughts on Third Weeks Readings

Reading the article “50 people Who Could Save the Planet” was probably my favorite article to read this week. It is nice to hear that people are setting goals and actually trying to make a difference in our society and world. I was also glad to see that not just famous people like actors and musicians were in this but this article really focused on people like the activists, scientists, economists, the lawyer, geneticists, the farmers , the writers and even the school boy were getting recognizes. These citizens that I mention are making outstanding discovers and achievements in helping the fight to save are planet from chaos. My favorite part about this article was when they mention the part about the schoolboy named Madhav Subrmanian, who is only twelve years old and is probably “the next generation’s face of conservation”( The Guardian,8). This boy goes around Mumbai collecting money for tiger conservation. The amazing part about this is that Subrmanian has already collected Rs500, 000 in two years. That is amazing that one boy can make that big of a difference in helping our planet. This article was very inspiring and made me think how I can maybe help do something to save our society.

I also enjoyed reading “The Highest Form of the Geographer’s Art” by John Fraser Hart. I really think that that this article is almost like the geographers guide to understanding truly how and what classifies a real geographer. I think very geographer should read this article. It was also very inspiring too. Hart helps us understand why people don’t understand geographers and how we just get overlooked as scientist s or geologists. One of my favorite lines in this reading is when Hart says, “Our goal as geographers should be high quality scholarship and we should not fret about whether our good scholarly work happens to fit some particular definition of science” (Hart, 5). Hart goes on to explore this concept of regional geography and how geographers look at every aspect what goes on in a region and its physical environment. He also talks about the value of how field, research and communication methods is probably the most effective issue that makes a geographer great at what they do. Reading through most of these articles I began to realize how important these readings are, in helping our projects for this semester. Hart’s article helps realize the importances of what and how a geographer is classified and how regional geography should be study and research about.