Reflection 1

Saturday afternoon, I went back to my area of inquiry to take pictures today. I decided not to take notes because I wanted to take everything in and reflect; whatever stood out in my head is what I would discuss here. My past experiences along the fourth and fifth ave. bridges were always very enjoyable, today was a little more sad. The weather was the same (sunny), there were plenty of people around, and I saw a couple more snakes. The difference was, today I decided to explore further the places I had seen in the past (under the 4th and 5th ave. bridges), and with that I noticed the impact of the outside on the inside of a place I have generally ignored.

I would like to make a connection to the idea of place, as discussed in Tim Cresswell’s book Place: A Short Introduction, to what I noticed today. Place is where one feels safe, a home. I ventured under the 5th ave. Bridge today, sticking close to the abandoned railroad tracks, and past the 4th Ave. Bridge. There seemed to be evidence that people are living under both bridges. I got the sense of marked territory, as if people had made these areas their home, at least to the point that I did not want to intrude. Even if this is not the case, I definitely got the sense that I do not belong there.

There were a lot of heavily littered areas in the general vicinity, and I would describe the area as abandoned and wild. I touched upon this in past blogs, or at least I have noticed this in past experiences. But I think it affected me more today, and is the reason I feel sad; because I know there are living beings who call this place home. I have always passed the area by, never noticing the litter, but today I noticed everything: plastic, cups, glass, cardboard, etc.

This place is for the wild and the adventurous. It is someone’s home, and thus should be respected. It just seems like it is not.