The Boardwalk as a System

The Boardwalk is not only a system in itself, but it also is a part of several larger systems.  The boardwalk is a man-made structure that was created in order for people to come and enjoy the majestic natural areas that surround it. Because it is on the shore of Lake Champlain, it is certainly a part of the lake system and the water system of Burlington. It is a hub for a variety of human activity both in and out of the water, including boating, sailing, running, walking, and sitting. Many people come to the boardwalk to read, to do work, to hang out with friends, to watch the sunset over the Adirondacks, or simply to enjoy the beauty of the place.

The area is also a part of the larger weather cycle. The month of April was the wettest April on record, causing Lake Champlain to overflow. On my run the other day, I passed by the boardwalk and noticed how high the water was. The pillars that hold up the boardwalk were completely under water, and the water level was very near the boardwalk itself (see photo), which normally sits about 10 feet or so above the lake. The recent flooding has affected local wildlife, including the endangered Common Tern, whose nesting grounds have become flooded during the recent heavy rains. The flooding has also caused concerns about sewage problems. Thus, the septic system, which is part of the water system in Burlington, affects both the boardwalk and the entire lake.

Geologically speaking, Lake Champlain has evolved in a variety of ways throughout history, and it continues to evolve today. The sand and soil under the boardwalk and along the shore of the lake are part of geological cyclic flows of minerals. Each grain of sand was once part of a larger rock and may become part of a different rock in the future. This cyclical process was extremely important in forming Lake Champlain and thus the area on the shore where the boardwalk is located.

Just as the boardwalk is part of lager systems, it also contains smaller systems embedded within it. The ebbs and flows of the lake is an important cycle upon which many animals rely. There are a variety of birds and fish that frequent the area at different times of the year. The seasonal changes are important predictors of which animals can be found at the boardwalk throughout the year. The most activity occurs during the spring, when not only people, but also animals and plants show themselves fully. During the winter, the snow and cold keep many animals away and prevent plants from blooming fully.

As a member of the Burlington community, I would certainly consider myself to be a part of the many systems and cycles that take place at and around the boardwalk. Through my many visits to the boardwalk, I have interacted with and observed much activity. For example, at the beginning of my study of the boardwalk, the water in the lake was solid ice and I was able to walk out to the lake and even stand under the boardwalk. There were very few animals during these cold visits except for a few seagulls, which seem to frequent the boardwalk throughout the entire year. As winter turned to spring, I observed the ice melt to water, and plants, animals and people emerging to enjoy the area.

Close-Ups at the Boardwalk

 

A Journey Untold

As I gaze across Champlain Lake                                  

Toward the mountains in the west                                  

I contemplate what does await                                      

And wonder what is next                                               

The paths ahead are untold                                            

So many ways to cross                                                  

And as my future does unfold                                        

Hope I not to be lost     

Bust lost, alas, what does it mean?

How could it be in water?

There is no lost, just open sea

Free and open for to wander

And wander I will, as days go by

‘Till I reach my destination

Though destination, have not I

Just a hope, a dream...aspiration

                                                  

Google Earth Explorations

While viewing the boardwalk via the burlington.kmz setting in Google Earth, I cam across a variety of pictures of the boardwalk throughout history. Two photos in particular struck me. One such photo depicted what appeared to be a hockey game being played on Lake Champlain. The people skating on the lake seemed to be quite far away, and the lake looked as if it was frozen solid all the way to New York! There was no date on the photo, but I heard somewhere recently that Lake Champlain has not been frozen solid all the way across for quite some time. The global warming trends in recent decades lead me to believe that I may never have the opportunity to see the lake frozen solid like this.

The other photo that struck me was similar in that it depicted people walking on the lake frozen lake, which was covered in snow. If I didn't know any better, I would not think that the setting of the photo was near a lake. Rather, it looks like an open field covered in snow. The picture gave me the same sense of sadness as the other as I wondered if I might be one of the last generations to see the lake in this state.

Many of the other photos were beautiful photos of the lake at sunset, of boats on the water. Looking at these pictures, I was overcome with a sense of appreciation for the absolute beauty of the lake. It was so nice to see photos that captured the feeling of joy and awe that I get every time I walk down to the water and look across the gorgeous expanse of water to the majestic Adirondack mountains! One picture showed what appears to be a happening restaurant that serves customers right on the boardwalk. I have never seen this restaurant before, and so I wonder whether it is still in business, or whether it only operates during the summer. I plan on visiting some of my friends who will be living in Burlington over the summer, and I hope this restaurant is in operation when I come.

It was fun to explore the boardwalk through Google Earth and click on the various layers. It certainly provided me with a different medium from which to view my place, and I feel like I gained more insight about the different aspects of the boardwalk in Burlington.

Event Map

Sensing the Boardwalk

When I went down to the boardwalk for this assignment, I realized how wonderful it is to close your eyes and just FEEL! I walked along the rocks (eyes open, so that I wouldn't trip and fall) and sat on a cool, rock with a gritty texture. I let my senses take over as I sat, eyes closed, and listened. I heard the sounds of a variety of bird calls: the caw of a crow, the squawk of a seagull, and the chirps and tweets of a variety of other birds. I also heard the flapping of their wings as they flew by. Some flapping was urgent and loud (This sound startled me, and so I peeked for a second and saw that the urgent flapping was that of a pigeon). Other birds flew somewhat soundlessly through the air. I also heard the sound of people walking by---I wonder what they were thinking, walking by this girl sitting on the rocks with her eyes closed grinning. I actually don't think it is all that rare for people to sit with their eyes closed (when they're alone), but in social situations, our self-conscious selves take over and make us act more "normal." This is known as the spotlight effect, which is the tendency to believe that one's features and behaviors are more salient to others than they actually are, when in fact, people aren't actually passing judgment as much as we think they are (But this, I realize, is somewhat irrelevant...Just my Psychology interests coming into play!) So instead of giving in to the social instincts that told me to open my eyes and act "normal," I continued to keep them shut and devoted my attention to my other senses.

The next sense that I directed my focus towards was my sense of smell. As I breathed deeply, I could smell the scent of coming Spring. Okay, this isn't very descriptive, but how does one describe this utterly unique smell, which can only be described in terms of itself? I'll try my hand at describing it anyway. What makes it so wonderful is that it is a combination of opposites: it is dampness mixed with sunshine, it smells cool while at the same time warm, it is winter mixed with summer, and wetness with dryness. It is a crisp smell (but not the same as Fall crispness, which is chillier and gives the sense of impending cold), but the crisp smell of flowers blooming and animals coming to life as the sun announces itself, as if saying, "look at me! I'm on my way and I'm here to stay!" In short, I smelled SPRING!

The next sense was quite tricky: Taste. I opened my mouth a little, stuck out my tongue, and focused on what I was tasting. To be honest, it wasn't much. Taste, I feel, is one of our weakest senses because we only use it when we are eating. Rarely does one describe a regular, every-day object by how it tastes. One's sense of taste is something that requires training...we are set to taste only those items (mainly food items) that were artificially flavored. We use spices and sauces to give things a stronger taste because the taste of nature is too subtle for our senses, which, because of this priming, seek out more "pazam," if you will. This is why when we went Maple Sugaring and we had the opportunity to taste the pre-boiled maple sap, I could barely taste the sweetness. My taste buds were trained to want more flavor rather than to appreciate the natural flavor that already existed in the sap. My tongue is simply not yet trained for such natural tastes, but I certainly hope to try and taste nature more and more as Spring continues to reveal herself. So back in my spot, tongue hung out like a dog, I had to focus real hard in order to taste the cool breeze coming off the water. Because my taste buds are not trained to pick up on subtle natural differences in taste, I bent down and licked the rock I was sitting on (juuuust a little)....and for THIS I made sure no one was around, for as much as I was okay with having people walk by and see me sitting with my eyes closed and a silly grin on my face, I was not okay with having people see me licking a rock. See, people have this innate desire to be accepted, and licking rocks is not one of the most socially acceptable behaviors. I wasn't ready to be socially rejected quite yet, even by strangers who I will probably never see again. Maybe next time I will focus more on the fact that these people probably don't care as much as I think they do, and do a little jig on the rocks, but for the time I was feeling somewhat self-conscious, and so I waited until I was alone on the boardwalk to lick the rock. You're probably confused about the social psychology I am throwing into my blog, seeing it seems somewhat irrelevant. But since I'm learning about this shtuff in my Social Psych class, this is just me making connections and reintegrating the whole! WOW! So anyways, the suspense is building in your minds now about what the danm rock tasted like...and I will tell you now: it tasted like a rock. (well, that was a disappointment, you are now probably thinking...and yes, I was disappointed, too). OKAY I'll try to describe this taste in more detail (wow, this assignment IS hard). For anyone who has ever tasted a rock, you know how difficult this is to describe. How do you describe the taste of a cookie or an apple? sweet, juicy, crisp? These descriptions emphasize the flavoring man has put into the item (as with the cookie) or the texture (juicy, crispy), not the intrinsic TASTE! Well this rock was neither sweet nor juicy nor crisp, as you can imagine. It was hard...but once again, saying that a rock tasted hard is not saying much at all--it is just stating it's texture. So since I am having an utterly difficult time describing the taste of the rock, I challenge you all as you are visiting my spot to TASTE the rocks, and let me know how YOU would describe their flavor (points for the best description...and I may even slip it into this blog as an extra bonus...giving credit where credit is due of course, with quotation marks and everything!). And if you're feeling extra bold, lick the rock with an audience (just a social psych experiment). Goodness, have I been talking too long? HOKAY, I will conclude by saying this was a super fun assignment, and I encourage you all (and I'm also publicly challenging myself--or IS this blog really public?...REGARDLESS...) to close your eyes and let your senses take over more often. It is quite exhilarating and liberating!

First Sounds of Spring

As I was sitting by the boardwalk this morning, I heard several birds chirping, cheeping, tweeting, chirruping, singing, and cawing. I even saw a few of these lovely birds, which included robins, gulls, pigeons, and a few others that I was unable to identify. I recorded some of the sounds I heard during my peaceful time by the water.

Here are the sounds of the birds (copy and paste the url in a separate window to open):

file:///Users/alyssahansen/Desktop/0322111030.wav

file:///Users/alyssahansen/Desktop/0322111038.wav

Though I did not see any animal tracks, I discovered a bird feather and I saw one or two birds nests high in the trees.