"Place" is where one lives, works, recreates, etc. on a daily to yearly basis. The size of a "place" may range from as small as a 1/2 acre yard to a neighborhood block or country block to an area the size of a township to an area the size of a county to an entire state - maybe even to an entire country. The idea or concept that there are many "places" throughout the world seems rhetorical, but it is certainly true.
Thinking that the human side of "place" will often take care of itself, for better or for worse, I like to focus my passion, attention and connection to the natural "place" where I live. I would have to say that my "place" is located in the northwest corner of Montgomery Co. - specifically Randolph and Butler Townships, in the state of Ohio. I was born and grew up in Englewood, Ohio and have lived in and loved my "place" for 48 of the 53 years of my life. I was connected to another "place" in my life Columbus and Franklin Co., Ohio when I attended Ohio State University.
I first began developing a "sense of place" for my "place" in northwest Montgomery Co., Ohio when I was a youngster growing up in Englewood. I explored the woods, meadows and streams of Englewood Reserve (now called Englewood MetroPark) and ignited in myself a deep "sense of wonder" for the climate, bedrock geology, fossils, soils, wildflowers, trees, aquatic life, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and even the night time wonders of stars, moons and planets. When I was in sixth grade I attended my first Saturday classes at the Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm and found a special place where I could learn more about the natural wonders of my "place."
Through my years of growing older I have sharpened my "sense of place" for my "place" from my travels to other "places." Trips to the dry outback of Australia, the Peruvian Amazon / Andes, the savannahs of Kenya, the rainforests of Costa Rica and Panama, the frozen arctic of Norway, the diversity of the Galapagos Islands and all the wondrous "places" within the United States (Everglades, Colorado Plateau, Rocky Mountains, Maine, Texas, etc.) have all allowed me to place much more meaning and connection to my "place" on this beautiful planet. A "place" is where you connect with the natural world, where your history with the land has been made, it is where you have grown and breathed the air of life and experienced the "sense of wonder" for a "place" which is special and sacred.
I believe that all humans need to have a "place" and to connect with it. We all need to learn to take care of that "place" for future generations. The Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm is a special organization with a national reputation for fostering a "sense of place" and for teaching about that "sense of wonder" for our "place." It is a destination where young and old can use all of their senses to discover, learn and to enjoy the natural and agricultural world. Our mission is to first help inspire that "sense of wonder", then to foster a passion and love for the natural world and then to help lead individuals to the action of protecting what we love and have passion for - that special "place."
For me there is nothing more calming, nothing that brings about more reflections for whom I am and where I am in this grand universe, than to connect with my "place" on a daily basis. A walk on a sycamore lined trail along the beautiful Stillwater River, watching colorful neo-tropical migrants pass through our "place" on their way to a different "place", standing in Aullwood's prairie and feeling the breeze that pushes the clouds from the west to east, watching the full moon rise and shine through the skeletal forms of winter trees in my backyard, or just simply laying on the ground and watching the ants of summer go about their daily business all this and more are my connections to my "place"
Tom Hissong
