Topophilia

This week I learned a new word: Topophilia. I also learned that I am a topophile. Let me explain.

I just started reading Mapheads by Ken Jennings. This book has been on my Amazon wish list for some time. I heard of it by listening to Ken Jennings' and John Roderick's podcast, Omnibus. Ken talked about how he loves maps, apparently enough to write a book about it. I also love maps, although, so far, only enough to write a blog about it. 

Like Ken, I've spent hours hunched over maps. Topo maps for my next outdoor adventure. Road maps for my next road trip. Political maps of far away places I'm not likely to visit. Growing up we had a globe on top of one of the bookcases that we looked at often. I've thought on more than one occasion that I'd like to have a globe for the kids to look at. (If I ever have a basement again the walls will be covered with maps and dry erase boards.)

I love maps, but the word topophilia, is actually a little misleading. You would think it was love of maps, but it's actually love of places. Here's an excerpt from Mapheads: 

"The word "topophilia," from the Greek for "love of place," was popularized by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in a 1974 book. When I first read about the concept, I experienced a jolt of recognition and validation, like a patient finally getting the right diagnosis for an obscure malady. I had felt this weirdly intense connection to landscape my whole life, but it was a relief to finally have a fancy Greek name to hang on it."

I felt a similar sensation while reading Mapheads. I feel this same intense connection to places. When I graduated from the University of Utah and took my job in Washington, I knew I would miss Utah. I still feel a strong connection to it. I've always loved Utah. Here's a further excerpt:

 "Young topophiles are most deeply shaped by the environments where they first became aware they had an environment: they imprint, like barnyard fowl." (Author's emphasis)

For the final project in a college photography class I submitted a group of photos I took around the Salt Lake Valley. I titled the project "In the Shadow of the Wasatch". Since a quick look in the top of my closet turned up this project, here's an excerpt:

" I think everybody has a certain fondness for the place where they were raised. For me it no exception. Utah is rich in history that sparkles with stories of great people coming across the country in a day when the journey was only done on foot. Today, Utah, and Salt Lake city, have matured with time. Salt Lake City lives in modern times while still reflecting its past heritage. The Wasatch Front is the region lying at the western foot of the Wasatch Mountains and it is where I have spent my life. As an avid outdoorsman, I am always finding new places to explore in the The Wasatch, and every morning the sunrise is delayed just a little to remind me that I live now, as always, in the Shadow of the Wasatch."

This continues to be one of my favorite photos from that project.

As I said, I have always felt a strong connection to Utah, and in particular, to those Wasatch foothills. 

But I fell in love with another place. Puget Sound. In particular, the northern Puget Sound area bounded roughly by Port Townsend, Whidbey Island, and northern Kitsap County. A regular reader of this blog will know that I recently posted about Whidbey Island, and how that has become a happy place for our family. We have been there about twice a year for several years in a row. We always love it there. 

What is it that makes me feel so strongly connected to that area? I ride the foot ferry across Sinclair Inlet to work most days. A short walk to the end of the pier at the shipyard brings the music of the sea lions lounging on the floating fence and the smell of the sea, but it's not quite the same as the smells or sensations of Whidbey Island or Fort Worden. 

This summer on July 4, we promised the kids that we would go to the beach. We had resolved to go to Hansville and visit Point No Point. From there your sight line is filled with Whidbey Island. Looking to the northwest you can see Marrowstone Island which is adjacent to Port Townsend. 

I LOVE visiting these places with my family. There is just something in the air up there. Five out of the twelve RV trips we took while we had it were to this region. 

 The beach at Fort Casey (Whidbey Island)

 Lighthouse at Fort Worden (Port Townsend)

 The stony beach at Fort Worden (Port Townsend)

Double Bluff Beach (Whidbey Island)

(She's a cutie, but if you cross her or mess with her brothers, you'll see this face.)

Deception Pass (Whidbey Island)

Dungeness Spit (Near Port Townsend)

So yeah, I think I qualify as a topophile. Sometimes I ache for the Wasatch, and when the day comes that I leave Washington, there will be an almost equally large hole in my heart for Puget Sound.