Making observations was a critical part of the CRS class. These observations were made near the beginning of the class, when students were just beginning to think about "place."
Places and Ideas of Place
"My place is in the hills, on Duncan Creek. It's loud in the winter and spring as the water crashes below a slope. You can hear it 1/2 mile away at the trailhead. You head in and sprint all the way there, slapping the mosquitoes from your body. You're nearing the end. Strip your shirt and leap! Ah, cool refreshing clear water produced by a bubbling spring not far from here. Now that's a place. I have my stories, my friends have theirs. The beer cans at the trailhead and the burnt out campfire have their own, too. The loggers that left from what I can see 48 old growth trees do also." - Junior
"I believe a place can be many things. It could be a physical area in the world like the Gorge or something as small as a book. A place is somewhere that you bring memories or feelings or emotions to. For example, my art book is my place and when I am going through it and see my brother's or my friend's art (even though I let them put it in there) it upsets me a little. I don't get mad, but I feel kind of invaded." -Senior
"I agree with Stegner that land becomes a place when events have happened there, either natural or manmade, fictional or not, [and they] are remembered. And I believe also that a place doesn't become "a place" to an individual until he has lived there and things have happened there that affect that person during his lifetime. A place can also be fictional, like the events that take place there, such as the Land of Oz or the Mississippi to people who have never been there but have read Tom Sawyer. Another thing is that the size of a place-its complexity-is determined by each individual. To me the Gorge is an enormous, vast place that is too large for any one person to discover in a lifetime, but the state of Texas is a 3-inch yellow shape. I've never been there." -Senior
"I think if you are at a place probably the thing that you would use to make the most sense of it is the smell. When I am somewhere I subconsciously make a note of where I am and what smell it has. For instance, living in California the scent was of dry land that had little moisture with the scent of construction mixed in. When we drove up, I was asleep until that very moment when we crossed the Washington border. I was immediately awakened by the scent of trees and rain." -Sophomore
"I believe that I understand place. Place or a place can be anywhere. All that makes up a place is everything. Every stick and stone. Every story. Everything that has ever happened there. And a place changes every day. Every time the wind blows or the rain falls. I don't know that one could ever truly know all there is to know about a place, but it is possible to know all you feel you need to know. You must use all aspects of science deemed applicable as well as other natural sciences, including literature and philosophy. But, alas, why not just make a place."
At the Confluence of Kanaka Creek and the Columbia River
"Mountains are eroded by the river-you can tell by the layers on the Oregon side of the river. I can tell that the trees' growth is healthy but has been stunted by the winds coming off the Columbia. The highest peak across the river is 3000'; the snow is at 2500'. There is a valley about 1 mile east of Cascade Locks caused by a creek that has been eroding the mountains for quite some time. Cascade Locks is on flat ground, very rare for the Oregon side." -Senior
"There is a lot of second growth Doug Fir, which indicates that the beachfront here was probably cleared. Another indication is oak, which loves to grow in clearings. The water (river) at one time worked its way down the mountains digging down. So, if you look toward Oregon mountains you see the horizontal lines in the rock formations where the water was from." -Junior
"The area here seems to have been logged or something because most of the trees appear to be only 35-50 years old. The landscape across the river is very interesting. It is built up of many layers of volcanic flows and has not been as eroded as the Washington side. I seem to recall the reason for this is that the flows ran at a downward angle away from the Washington side." -Sophomore
"This beach is by Kanaka Creek's mouth on the Columbia River. It is on an eddy formed by a solid basalt outcropping where the cemetery is. You can see upstream to Home Valley and sand Hill. A large part of Oregon is visible and we can see that Oregon goes up steeply while Washington slopes down into the water. There is a creek forming a valley on the Ore. side, but its mouth does not come straight down to the river. Roughly 1/4 mile in it has a horizontal ridge forcing it to run parallel to the river. For a mile before, the creek beats the ridge letting it into the Columbia. Sand Hill appears to be rumbling into the river. It is definitely eroding."
First Observation, made outside the classroom with a loupe in hand
"A dead brown leaf. There is a main stem which has small veins reaching out from the sides. Covering the veins is a structure of smaller veins and cells. [here this student drew an image of a leaf] I would assume that at one time the leaf was drawing nutrients from the branch of a tree or shrub. When the season changed the tree or shrub probably released the leaf so as to keep nutrients only in the healthy part of the tree or shrub." -Junior
"A dead branch about 2 1/4 feet long. At the base about 1/4 inch diameter and at the top, where two one-inch-long curled leaves sprout from, it is almost a 1 1/8 in diameter. At the bottom it is a pale green that gets richer in color as it reaches the top notches, where leaves used, approximately 2 1/2 inches apart at the bottom. At about 3/4 of the way up they start getting closer. Every two notches, the segments grow closer. No noticeable scent. Gets very flexible at the top being able to bend down to the base. There is a slight curve." -Senior [image]
Second Observation, made at a site away from school
"This is the dam at the end of Hemlock Lake. There is a fish ladder constructed on the far left side. The boards are up right now to create wading pools by the fish ladder. I've grown up here all my life. I've seen how the fish ladder has helped the fish make the transition from the lower part of the falls to the upper part."-Junior
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