These two images are from my hometown of Turbotville, Pennsylvania. Never heard of it? Yeah, I’m not surprised. It’s one of those small farm towns that’s been the same for at least the past forty years. It’s much like Mayberry. Everyone knows each other. There’s a grocery store, bank, and hardware store in the heart of town; and the only traffic you run into is when you’re stuck behind the Amish with their horse and buggy.
I come from a family of farmers. Some of us are in rural New York on the dairy farm, others are in Pennsylvania. Before then we were Irishmen from Cork, looking for a better opportunity, finding work building America’s railroad network. For us, the landscapes may have changed but by the end of the day, appreciating the world around us and admiring the beauty in nature is one thing my family still values.
I moved around a lot growing up. Each place was somewhere new, in a new state, getting less and less rural every time. None of those places ever felt like home. I was unhappy with my surroundings, felt extremely disconnected, and longed for the same feeling of my tiny little farm town.
Last year I made the move from Charlotte, NC to Pittsburgh, PA. I never saw myself as someone who would love the city but I have never been happier. As I’m writing this I’m coming to the realization that I have always been by a body of water. In Turbotville there’s the Susquehanna River, Charlotte was close to Lake Norman, and now Pittsburgh the city known for its many bridges that cross the Allegheny. All the other places I’ve lived were near a river or lake as well. “Falling in love with a place, being in love with a place, wanting to care for a place and see it remain intact as a wild piece of the planet” is the one thing Williams states in her article that I feel captures the feeling of home (8).
Pittsburgh doesn’t have corn fields that go on for miles, farm animals that are around every corner, or the openness of untouched family land. It does however, have the same sense of community. Every person I have come into contact with has a deep love for this city. Each for varying reasons but their conclusions are all the same. This city feels like home. This city is their family. This city is proud of the mud brown waters that make up the Allegheny.
Kingsolver states “People will need wild places. Whether or not they think they do, they do. They need to experience a landscape that is timeless” (2) and it’s true. Although, I don’t think we need to go to the middle of the woods, with no cell service, to be able to find that sense of wilderness. The beauty of nature is everywhere, we just need to slow down to find it. During the summer I travel back to my tiny farm town and use that as my time to reset. I cannot begin to describe the feeling of happiness when driving down a backroad, windows down, and breathing in all the fresh air.
Cities are often associated with chaos, whereas nature is seen as peaceful, calm. The traditional sense of nature does not exist here but the history does. The night sky still shines bright with all her stars, birds still sing their sweet tune, and the flora still grows. We can all experience the sense of serenity that Kingsolver and Williams speak of, regardless of where we are, if we just take a moment to slow down and appreciate our surroundings.
Ecofeminism stresses the idea that women are connected to nature. Both Kingsolver and Williams present the argument that to be connected to nature we must in fact be surrounded by it. I think this varies person to person and how they define nature themselves. For some it could be a trip to a cabin for some peace while writing, like Kingsolver. Others might share the importance of our histories, like Williams. For me, it’s both. Some days all I can do is walk outside and stand with my bare feet in the grass, listening to the breeze.
I don’t think one thing is greater than the other. For those that live in the city, there are pieces of nature all around them if only they turn off the noise of the concrete jungle. Each experience with nature is valid. No one person will take the same thing away from it as we are all individuals with unique histories.
Hey Lizzy!
I really enjoyed this piece! Through your meditation on the different landscapes that have shaped you as a person, I felt like I could experience those places right along with you. Williams stresses in “Home Work” that the ecofeminist pathway forward is through story, and sharing the sense of place that makes us who we are, with others. It is story–being able to put oneself in another’s shoes through the telling of it–that can lead to greater empathy for others and the world around us. You were able to make the reader feel the warm breeze on their skin and the pride that one has when walking through a bustling city. It’s this ability that will, as Williams says, open minds instead of closes them. It’s clear that you care for these places, and your passion is infectious! And that’s the point, isn’t it? To bolster each other up and actually /care/ for each other, the earth that houses us, and the animals and plants that inhabit this planet with us.
Hi Jasmine,
Thank you! I wanted to try and explain the feelings I have when in nature but also in those few moments I find the beauty of nature in the city. I believe community is a large part of nature. Sure, the traditional definition could mean the wilderness, but in all places there are things that grow. People, trees, life itself. That was the point I was really trying to stress because that’s what I took away from the readings we had this week. That sense of community is, at least to me, a big part of feminist philosophies.
Hi Lizzy,
I liked reading your post, because I have shared a similar background where I have moved a lot. I moved from the country (elementary school) to New York City (Middle school to the end of High School) to Massachusetts (for college, and a couple of years after) where it’s definitely a little bit of both mixed in. In your post you mentioned the Susquehanna River, and I would be curious as to what river you are referring to. Reason being, is that there is a Susquehanna River near where I live in upstate New York, and it would be really neat if it was the same one you are referring to. I feel very happy, and lucky that I have been able to have so much exposure to both kinds of living situations and experience many different people along the way. It sounds like you have a great deal of admiration for where you live, and want to be more connected to the people and the land/nature around you! And now that spring is right around the corner, I am sure that you as well as I, are looking forward to those warm summer nights, and long hot days of doing activities outside and being able to spread out more, take walks, have picnics, and so on. I’ve never been to Pittsburgh, but do want to travel more in general.
I think that both of the readings try to express that weather or not we realize it, we need nature in order to survive and be the healthiest we can! Ecofeminism helps bring us back to where we came from, and helps us to look at how we want to navigate our lives. It helps us make decisions in our lives that help determine where we want to spend our lives. My favorite part about where I live is being able to enjoy its beauty and benefits it gives me. I have put an expectation on myself that when the time comes, that I will maintain the land(and house) and take care of it like my parents do now.
I like the way you speak about ecofeminism, and how you can find connections to the earth even in the busiest of city’s like New York City. I know I was able to to when I lived there.
Hi Alina,
It’s the same river! It get’s it’s start at the Chesapeake bay, runs through all of Eastern PA, and ends in NY. I think it’s really cool that we both have the river in common. That part of nature in a sense connects us both to each other, bringing us back to a similar understanding of where we come from. I think that might have been part of the point in this week’s lesson.
I’m very excited for the spring weather to be here so I can be outside and replant my garden. If you ever do travel to Pittsburgh make sure you check out the Strip District. There are so many types of food, people, and cultures all in one place and it’s so cool to see how they all meld together.
Part of the reason why I wanted to focus to heavily on talking about the city is to show that there are pieces of nature here too. I don’t think we have to take extreme trips to be able to feel that connection to nature. I wanted to make it easy to understand for anyone and show that we can all be in a part of nature, regardless of where we live.
Hi Lizzy – you did a great job of not only describing your places, but really making me feel as if I were there experiencing it all with you and through your eyes! As someone who feels the opposite of being rooted to one place (I feel like a bit like a wandering nomad, finding peace in each new place I encounter), it’s refreshing to hear your passion and conviction when you speak about the impact that the farmlands and serenity of nature you grew up with still comforts you.
You reference Kingsolver’s belief that people do need to connect “wild places” and feel the timelessness that nature offers. I agree with both of you, in that people absolutely need that connection, and to feel that there is something larger than us as individuals that unites us. I also think that we can find this simple beauty, even in populated cityscapes. I wrote in my own blog this week that I think witnessing nature’s beauty in a city setting may have even more of an impact than seeing the vastness of nature in the remote wilderness. It’s as if we can appreciate nature’s colorful beauty when it is adjacent to a concrete jungle.
It seems as you have witnessed the beauty of nature in different forms of landscapes too, from farm country to city life in Pittsburgh. I think you make a pertinent observation about the places you have lived and how being by the water is an important aspect of the landscape and the nature that you enjoy. The landscape that you grew up with is the one that you find comfort in, and can recharge for your life in the city, which is important to know how to do. Both remote places and cities have their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to know when you need a break from each one. I’m curious to know if you drink in the freshness of the farmland each summer out of necessity, habit, or both. Have you ever spent too much time in the city that you were just aching to escape to the silent, vast, green spaces you are familiar with?
Kingsolver, Barbara. Knowing Our Place.
Hey Christine,
I live about 10 minutes from downtown Pitt. so when I say “I live in the city” it’s not like I have the full chaos of someone who lives in NYC. Every summer I go back to my farm town, mostly to visit family and friends, but I just need a day to reset and breathe air that isn’t city air, if that makes sense. After then, I get bored because there is quite literally nothing to do where I’m from. For fun you either go swimming in the creek off the side of a backroad or you go cow tipping (yes that is a real thing). So to answer your question, a little bit of both? I get bored easily and sometimes all I need to reset is a change of scenery. Like this summer I’ll travel back to Charlotte to visit friends and I’ll need a trip to the quiet farm because I’ll be around too much city.
I like to believe that each place I’ve lived has a piece of my soul. Each piece tells a different story and holds different memories, both making up who I am today. I’ve been working on a tattoo sleeve over the past few years. It’s made up of flowers but each flower I choose is for a specific reason, all telling my story. I think that’s just something worth mentioning.
Hi Lizzy – I love how connected you and your family are to your surroundings and how it has stayed with you as you got older. The way you describe your hometown kind of reminds me of my own! It’s more populated than Turbotville, it seems, but my mother will occasionally make Mayberry jokes in reference to the town. We have a lot of farms in the area, and many of the residents are either farmers themselves, or work other blue collar jobs. I’ve certainly been caught in a tractor traffic jam many times, myself! Unlike you, though, I was always wishing we lived in a bigger town, or a city with more excitement and more things to do. I’m kind of a night owl, so as I got older I got more frustrated with nothing being open past 9pm!
That said, I love your comparison to how you feel about your hometown, to how those feel in the city of Pittsburgh that call it home. I think that is why I love Boston so much, because the people here feel the same way. They are attached to the city, and while it may not be perfect, it is home. And, as you stated, there is a history to it, which is what connects all aspects of nature, whether it is the wilderness itself, or the city. I had never thought about it that way – I had simply thought that if you can’t see the mountains or visit the lake or the beach, then you weren’t fully experiencing nature. But the truth is that people can and will find and bring in aspects of nature wherever they can. It could be a neighborhood park, a community garden or having small plants and trees in their home. It’s very natural to have this connection to nature!