I could not have asked for a better setting to read about the history of the Adirondacks this weekend than the park itself. Fortunately enough, I was part of the pit crew for Hamilton's very own Marathon Canoe Team that participated in the annual 90-mile race through the park. When I wasn't busy running alongside the boat shoving Snicker's bars into my teammates' mouths, I was able to visualize the Iroquois and Roger's Rangers dressed for war paddling along the lakes ( at least until someone pulled out sunscreen or a Clif bar, which ruined this image pretty quickly). However, as much as this was clearly a 21st century version of canoe travel, part of me was reassured at how many people around me clearly loved this place and all that it had to offer. Everyone had a common goal, and even those who were fairly competitive recognized that anyone who was capable of finishing was truly a winner.
Within the first hour of arriving at the start line, two separate racers approached me looking for someone to drive their cars to the next site. They needed someone who could drive a standard, which suited me since I much prefer it to driving an automatic. They offered to pay me, which they both did in advance and handed me their keys with a smile and thanked me profusely for my help. I couldn't believe that these people had actually just handed cash and the keys to their vehicles to a perfect stranger, but this proved to be exemplary of the spirit and character of the 90-milers, not to mention their trust in whoever else might happen to be there. In any case, I couldn't help to feel hopeful. If these individuals come halfway across the country to put their boats in these particular lakes, we must be able to preserve it, right?
The only trouble is, my optimistic view dwindled when I began to think about our discussion that touched briefly upon selective sampling. Just as Bill McKibben might like to envision our generation as one represented accurately by the Middlebury students interested in farming, it was easy for my faith to be restored in the human concern for the preservation of the park when surrounded by a sea of environmentally conscious, mountain-loving, trusting people who had elected to spend their weekend in this beautiful place. But that's just it, these were the 270-something people who had done just that, chosen to be there. Meanwhile, the rest of the world continued outside of our Adirondack bubble as per usual, where people don't give young adults their cars and don't canoe for 8 hours a day because that's their idea of fun. In any case, I can only hope that this sample of the population speaks louder than the rest.
Amelia, I really like the sentiment expressed in the second paragraph concerning the diversity of people in the Adirondacks. When reading McKibben, as Phoebe described in class the other day, it's very easy to get the impression that the majority of the Adirondacks/Vermont are comprised of tall, smart, attractive, slightly hippy-ish men. This generalization certainly makes it a lot simpler to argue for the region for the average reader, but may fall into the trap of a rose-tinted glasses approach at looking at a much more complex region.
ReplyDeleteI find that the Adirondacks in particular generate a huge amount of idealism/generalizations to the point of almost complete homogeneity of the region in the majority of American's minds. It's really curious as to why this is the case. Is it due to the fact that the region is less accessible to the average person? or possibly not considered in the urban-minded perception of the country? Or perhaps just due to the unique land circumstances of the Adirondacks? Perhaps it is easier to generalize about places that are somewhat foreign to those outside it. And what may be even more interesting is wondering whether a generalization about a place influences a person's actions when visiting that place. Would you in turn be more inclined to lend your car to the same group of people on the Charles in Boston?
In any case, the most a cautious person can do is read from as many different viewpoints and use their own experiences in the region to contextualize what the region means to them.