There are a few key ideas in Richard White’s The Organic Machine that I think can be useful for seeing Lake Tahoe: the importance of knowing nature through labor, and how different forms of labor mean different understandings of nature; the importance of understanding the work that nature does as well as the work that people do with nature, how that work is organized, and the struggles for control of both kinds of work -- nature’s work and human work; the blending of nature, human, and machine in an organic machine that must be understood whole, all natural, social and historical; and the creation of a virtual river that influences the actual river. Jenny Price whimsically takes some of these ideas on a tour of Los Angeles, and adds some of her own ideas about human-nature hybrids along the way.
In your next assignment, you will be writing about at least three ways of seeing nature in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Now that might seem like a pretty simple assignment. It’s hard not to see nature at Tahoe. But you will want to surprise us with some new ways of seeing and thinking about nature at Tahoe, using ideas you’ve taken from the readings and your experiences and research in this course, and in particular, inspired by this week’s readings from White and Price.
So, once again, let’s start the conversation here. Tell us about at least one new way of seeing nature at Tahoe that you will take away from this course. I think it will help all of us if we share and discuss some of these new ways of seeing early and often.
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The boat ride with Brendan Riley gave me a new way to view nature at Lake Tahoe. Literally, I had never seen the lake in that manner: from a boat passing along the coast at that speed and getting a genuine feeling for how big the lake is. But it's not that simple. My form of recreation is always a non-motorized recreation. While I've never held it against the world's motorheads for their love of machines and the ease that those machines provide in terms of access, I've always been intrinsically opposed to mechanized recreation. To me, it has always seemed inherently opposed in some way, this machine and nature. Though I've used snowmachines, that's snowmobiles for all you lower 48ers, I've just never really grasped the desire to use the machine to relax in nature. Going out with Brendan gave me a little bit more of glimpse into that mentality and appreciation for it. When I drive along the Tahoe shoreline and see boats stacked on each other, in addition to the road traffic, I naturally cringe, whereas Brendan sees that and perhaps smiles knowing that people are out there on the water enjoying their days. I doubt I'm going to incorporate this into my paper cause I want to get away from seeing nature at Tahoe from my own personal dominant paradigm of recreation, but it is a "new" way for me of seeing it and a valuable one in relating to the masses that do recreate in that way.
Talking to Brendan Riley gave me a bit of a new perspective as well. I made the joke in class that the relationship most people have with Tahoe is that of a mistress. But upon thinking about it, I think it's true. People love Tahoe, but it's not a relationship they really have to work for. They come in, have a good time, then leave with little thought given to the lake other than when they will return.
That being said, I don't think that precludes a meaningful relationship, as Brendan demonstrated.
His connection to the lake was evident. To him, it is more than a fling, it provides a way for him to feel spiritually renewed.
The beauty of the lake, even if it is just aesthetic, provides an important service to people who can go there and feel a connection to nature.
I'm interested in the way people have viewed the lake and other scenic places as objects. Photography has a long history (relative to photography) of contemplating nature. You might recall how pleased John Reuter was with the large prints around the building. Sometimes, photographs can replace the real or certainly bring it into a realm of perception that many people often ignore. Riding in the boat, I also became aware of all they ways that Tahoe is a lab for scientists, including NASA. I'm still toying with other ideas...
Wow. So much to think about! I guess I’m still pondering two ways you can see nature at Lake Tahoe. But one that I will be writing on is light. How people see the lake through light. Light is everywhere. It’s all around us. As a photographer I’m especially sensitive to light. At the lake light does many things, it bounces off the mountains, it cuts through the smog, and it radiates through the water. How people perceive this light can be measured in photographs, in the Secchi dish or completely ignored. Light at the lake is fairly constant. Tahoe boasts 300 days of sunshine per year. Only when the sun is gone blocked by smoke, or a raging winter storm do people notice it’s gone. I see the light like the lake. If you see something every day you get used to it. It becomes part of the background for your life. You begin to think it will always be there. Sure lake Tahoe has been around for a really long time, but peoples attitudes, it has always been there, it will always be there can be dangerous. Um. Yeah. So that is where I’m going to begin and see where nature takes me.
Having only been on the lake twice, I've been thinking about how to develop a contrast between these two experiences. Each of these two trips on the lake took on a different tenor, and in each case I related to nature in a different way. I'm not sure what the nature of this difference is, but that's this blog is for. Right?
With Brendan, I was on a kind a speedboat, or, at least, a boat that was speedy. While the scientists' boat was big and noisy, I really enjoyed how still it sat on the lake when we stopped to take the Secchi measurements. At that moment, I found myself at the center of the lake. I could never had anticipated the experience of floating on such still water, surrounded by moutains, and enveloped by a pale-blue, early morning sky.
In the first instance, the lake is something that I (for a lack of a better word) "plowed" through. But I didn't "plow" through the water as a farmer would labor with the land. Instead, Liz and I chatted, while Angela shot video, and Kamila gave me a hard time. The boat's speed created a great amount of mist. I don't think we stopped on the lake, or if we did, it was only for a short moment.
In the second case, there was no mist. The motor had stopped. The experience was one of stillness and passivity--not motion and activity. And even though there were many people aboard the boat, and that I should have been focusing better on what the scientists were saying, I couldn't help but notice the great stillness of the lake. This stillness preoccupied me, and caused me to "reflect" back on my own life. Isn't reflection associated with the stillness of water?
The difference between these two experiences is difficult for me to articulate. Cosmically, I was put in my place. The day-to-day worries I have became insignificant when Reuter and Brant explained how there was an underwater landslide beneath my feet about 10,000 years ago.
So, in short, I'm seeing nature "as" something different in each experience. Is it the difference between the recreational and the spiritual? I'll have to think about it some more.
I have never really considered myself to have a relationship with nature. Sure I go on the occasional camping trip or go to lake with friends however I am not the "outdoor" recreation type. I don't kayak, mt. bike, fish, ski or hike. I have always admired "nature" from a distance. I guess I think it's something to be looked at and admired not used and in some cases abused.
What does my lack of a relationship mean? I do care about the environment around me, I just don't part take in it regularly. Am I just an acquaintance, a friend or foe?
Over the next ten months I will have to learn to not only have a relationship with the Tahoe Basin but determine what kind of a relationship I want or need.Maybe part of the issue is I don't live there. It is not my community. I go up there an invade it just like millions of other people do.
Something that I still think about in our class discussion was gender, race and class distinction. When I think of Lake Tahoe I think of wealth. It never occurs to me there is poverty there. I wonder what people of different races and economic backgrounds think of the Lake?
Over the last three weeks I have absorbed an enourmous amount of info. For me personally I have more questions than answers.
During our meetings in class, we talked a lot about the relationship between human and nature. We decided it no longer is a marriage-like status, but more likely a state of divorce, or separation at least.
I think the trips we took to Lake Tahoe these last few weeks helped us realize how powerful nature is and how easily it can wake us up and put us “in check”, like a bear that comes by a cabin while people are camping. But is the bear really dangerous?
I think that because we are so disconnected from nature, and we don’t understand natural processes, we are scared of the surrounding environment. The lake, as a place of safe recreation, is one of the favorite destination points for many tourists and year-round residents. But what do they know about its character, individuality, and uniqueness? Most likely not much.
This is why people are afraid. We want to stay in our safe zone, but maybe it’s time to break out of the protecting shield and reunite with the natural world.
It seems like that the trips we took helped some of us to understand what Lake Tahoe really is. Maybe the work that White talks about in his book is different today than it was years ago. Perhaps it is being a spokesman of nature, just like Brendan Riley, Brant Allen, or other people who we met during our trips, who are so closely attached to the lake and are Tahoe’s advocates in everyday life.
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