David Wesley (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dwesley) wrote,@ 2009-04-17 15:10:00 |
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Setting
I'm reading "House of Rain" by Craig Childs, about the Anasazi culture that disappeared from the Southwest around 1100 AD, and there's a quote from an archeologist named Tom Windes that struck a tone with me.
I've lived a lot of places and I can attest to the feel of different cultures, but it never really dawned on me that the landscape itself could shape or mold that culture. I had a pretty good idea that weather could make a difference (one of the reasons that I live in California), but it never really dawned on me that the lay of the land might also affect culture. But, it seems to make sense.
A few years ago, I was on a work related trip and found myself standing in a playa (dry lake bed) just off the I-15 on the California side of the border with Nevada. As we looked across the playa and several miles further, we could see a freight train gliding on invisible tracks across the base of one of the numerous mountains in the area. One of the men I was with (a government worker from back east) scratched his head and said, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen an entire train before."
So, what does that do to a persons perspective in life? If it's easier to take in the whole of the world, does that help you become a "big picture" kind of person? Does it feed your humility when it's easy to see how small you are in the world? I'll have to think about this a little more in my writing and consider how the setting itself informs the culture as well as the individual.
I'm reading "House of Rain" by Craig Childs, about the Anasazi culture that disappeared from the Southwest around 1100 AD, and there's a quote from an archeologist named Tom Windes that struck a tone with me.
"You grow up in trees and lights, and you can't see anything. You come out here and it's clear for a hundred miles in every direction. That's a different mind-set. Each landscape allows or inhibits perspective, and that creates the culture. Views like you get our here, these make their own people."
I've lived a lot of places and I can attest to the feel of different cultures, but it never really dawned on me that the landscape itself could shape or mold that culture. I had a pretty good idea that weather could make a difference (one of the reasons that I live in California), but it never really dawned on me that the lay of the land might also affect culture. But, it seems to make sense.
A few years ago, I was on a work related trip and found myself standing in a playa (dry lake bed) just off the I-15 on the California side of the border with Nevada. As we looked across the playa and several miles further, we could see a freight train gliding on invisible tracks across the base of one of the numerous mountains in the area. One of the men I was with (a government worker from back east) scratched his head and said, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen an entire train before."
So, what does that do to a persons perspective in life? If it's easier to take in the whole of the world, does that help you become a "big picture" kind of person? Does it feed your humility when it's easy to see how small you are in the world? I'll have to think about this a little more in my writing and consider how the setting itself informs the culture as well as the individual.
