Discovering Home (Reposted)

Discovering Home

Recent personal experience suggests two actions assist one in discovering the regionalism of one’s area and, perhaps, in developing a sort of regional pride (or “provincialism”, in Pierce and Wiles’ words in “A Place for Regionalism?”):

1. Learning the history of one’s region

and

2. Spending time away from one’s region

To the first point, seeing the area of the Palisades I call my home depicted as Wade saw it in 1846 (see the “Palisades” link at http://www.hhr.highlands.com/virtual.htm) gives me an inexpressible sense of comfort and pride. On that particular section of Wade’s panorama, my hometown pretty much lies on the crease between the letters “G” and “E”, and is adjacent to Closter, which is referenced in “Closter’s Landing”. While Closter lies on the top of the Palisades, the landing (which no longer goes by that name) is at the base, along the Hudson. There, on Wade’s panorama, is my home, 150 years ago.

To the second point, I’ve learned more about my area of New Jersey while away at college than I ever did at home. That is to say, time away from home makes one stop and realize, “Oh, so that isn’t how things are everywhere? We only have/do/say ___ back home?”