One of the hardest parts about this project was trying to figure out which of the many places I visit to call my three places where I belong. It's interesting to try and boil down your life's experiences into a summary of just three physical geographical locations. I can see this being much more difficult in the city, where urban sprawl covers the land and hides geographical features, but luckily I grew up in the suburbs and had a dearth of physicals spaces to call my own. But which were the three in which I belonged?

Virmond Park

The first place I chose was Virmond Park. Virmond is on the shore of Lake Michigan, atop the bluffs overlooking the water. I discovered this park one foggy afternoon after driving as far as I could east, and then trying to find somewhere to stop.



It was slightly rainy, and as I approached the bluff, I realized that I couldn't see the lake at all. It was just a solid wall of cloud blocking my view.



I could still hear it though, and the image of the hidden lake still sighing in the distance is engrained in my memory. I would return to the park often, usually in the context of some sort of mental task to achieve, when I needed time to think things over.



The drive would provide the time, and the park would provide a beautiful backdrop for personal growth.



I can't count how many times I've been an emotional wreck on the road to the park, and then on the way back calm and collected. This place is a place of tranquility and peace, and it is mine.

Included are two recordings from the park; virmond-1 is done farther away from the lake, and virmond-2 is done closer to the lake.

Tower Hill

I do not know if this place has a true formal name. I've always heard it referred to as Tower Hill, so that's the name I'll use for it here.



Like the really tall slide from your childhood, I always imagine this hill as being taller and steeper than it actually is. But I guess that's just the deception of memory. Today was actually the first that I exited the car and explored the area around Tower Hill.



I've always just driven it before, pushing pedal to floor and roaring up the (rather steep) incline, never quite sure if my car has the gusto to make it up the hill. It too functioned like Virmond Park. I could use the time to think things over, and I could use the speed to be momentarily metaphorically self-destructive.



So much of who I am involves driving and seeing the local landscapes, and this form is one of the few that I always try to include in every drive. It exhilarates me, and it is mine.

Included is one audio recording from the bottom of the hill.

Tamarack Swamp

The Tamarack Swamp is the setting of my hometown. Because it is so close to home, I've always been in, around, and near the swamp for most of my life.



The swamp is a strange thing, because while it is being carved apart to make subdivisions for a growing suburb, it still likes to remind us that we are merely borrowing the land from it.



Mosquitoes abound, the roads cave in, and basements flood. The places we live are borrowed from our land, and nowhere is this more apparent than living next door to the swamp.



I've grown up with this swamp and watch deforestation, landfill, pollution, and recovery. The dynamic of nature is represented by this swamp, and it is mine.



Included is a recording from the side of the swamp.

Conclusion

One of the most interesting things I found about this project was the realization that there are few places isolated from man. In all of the recordings, traffic noise is apparent, whether from cars driving by or from tires on a highway miles away. Another interesting things was seeing how the animals and plants changed from place to place. The plants in the stream by Tower Hill were different plants in the Tamarack Swamp. The birds were completely different throughout. I realize now how large the world really is, and how quickly humans are able to traverse it. I covered all of these places in a span of two hours, but they're far enough apart to develop unique ecosystems relatively diverse from each other. I know this isn't a Biome task, but ecology is amazing.