A Saturday in the Chasm

Last Saturday, October 26th, I took a trip to take more detailed notes on the subculture of Purgatory Chasm.  To my surprise, there were a large amount of people using cell phones at the entrance of the chasm. Whether talking or texting, cell phones were in the hands of almost every person there. This was kind of disturbing to me...This is supposed to be a place of nature, not your bedroom.  There was a girl probably in her mid to late teens at the entrance of the Chasm just sitting at a picnic table texting. She had to have sat there for at least 20 minutes. Eventually she got a call, and speaking loudly in Spanish, answered her phone.  I made the assumption at that moment that she was waiting for someone: most likely her parents.  Did they go on a hike without her? The world may never know.

The world does know, however, that society as we once knew it is changing.  When I used to visit Purgatory Chasm for hikes and such, It used to be packed with people.  The only reason why it was packed the 26th was due to a large tour going on. (Must have been a school trip or something, there were 3 buses from New York in one of the parking lots.) Is the rapid increase in the use of technology over the years impacting the subculture of Purgatory Chasm? While talking about the rise in technology, my friend Justin said "I'm surprised they don't have WiFi in the Chasm yet". Yes, he was being sarcastic, but what if the use of technology does go that far? What will happen to Purgatory Chasm within the next 10 years? That's so scary to think about.

For All My Followers

Dear followers (all, like, 10 of you haha),

Just as a side note, if anyone seriously would like to accompany me on an "Adventure" through Purgatory, as I like to call it, don't hesitate to let me know! I try to go to Purgatory Chasm at least once a week, if not more. Even if we do't go on a weekend, I'm pretty flexible on the days I go (depending on my work schedule & weather...I'm not about to go for a walk in pouring rain or snow). And I'm also open to visiting other field sites with you guys if you need "support/gentle encouragement". Well, I'm actually off right now to go do some observations. Just thought I'd formally put the offer out there, since Professor Collins gave the idea out in class. Happy field working!

-Brianna

Ahh, The Internet.

Last night, I did some research of key words having to do with my field site, Purgatory Chasm.  All photos and graphics on the websites were centered around nature. (No, this isn't very surprising to me). With the keywords “hiking” and “state park”, that's the main idea. On almost every site I came across, there were pictures of plants, water, or rocks of some sort. Those who didn't have pictures of random pieces of nature were green. I don't just mean “green” as in “eco friendly” (although they were), but green in the literal sense: The web page layouts were green.


When searching the word “Hiking” on Google, I came across The American Hiking Society (AHS) web page. This page seems to not only have pictures of nature, but pictures of footprints as well, since they symbolize the long journey a hike could bring. This website was interesting because it talked about hiking trails all over the country. It talked about their mission, advocacy, events, and hiking gear. Interestingly enough, the site also had a donation button. Through this, I found it kind of disturbing that you could leave a spot in your will to incorporate the American Hiking Society. I mean, I love nature as much as the next guy, but it makes the AHS see, a little desperate.


There was one website I found that directly useful in terms of research came up to Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts. . . My field site! It was The Massachusetts Government website, listed under the topic of “Recreation & Conservation”, then “Mass Parks”. I actually gained a bit of info from this site that I wouldn't necessarily be able to tell just by physically studying the chasm or park itself. For example, the chasm is said to have been created by dammed up water that melted from the ice age nearly 14,000 years ago!


When I searched the keyword “Hiking” on Mahalo.com, the results were different than I intended. There were two columns listed, one on the right, and one on the left. The one on the left listed Hiking “Dos and Don'ts” , such as “Do pack water” and “Don't litter”. This information seemed redundant to me; Why would you need to tell a hiker to pack water when going on a long walk in the woods? Anyways, on the right, to my surprise, was a list titled “Fast Facts”. This immediately caught my attention. Reading on, I actually learned something! “Off trail hiking is called bushwhacking”, it read. (Don't laugh.) I then decided to search the keyword “bushwhacking”.


“Bushwhacking” (stop laughing) brought up a lot of interesting topics on its own. It mainly brought a lot of pictures of people hiking in the woods with a lot of baggage on them, leading me to believe they're hiking with a purpose; hiking for a long time. “Bushwhacking” also brought up a lot of dictionary sites which then lead me to believe that the prior definition given was wrong. Searching further to TheFreeDictionary.com, I found the definition to be “to make one's way through thick woods by cutting away bushes and branches”.


It seems as like I did learn something here! Surfing the internet actually helped me find useful information about Purgatory Chasm. I'll definitely be doing more research before my final paper, and broadening my horizons further than just Google.


Sites Found:
http://www.americanhiking.org/


http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-central/purgatory-chasm-state-reservation.html



http://www.mahalo.com/hiking/

Surprised, Intrigued, Disturbed

The Chasm seems extremely boring, based on my first day of field notes. I went to do my research on a Friday, which proved to be a bad day for said research. I figured for the first day, since I was a little pressed for time (and because my little brother was with me) I wouldn't venture into the chasm itself, but stay by the playground and open field areas. There weren't many people there at all, and there were no events going on. It was both surprising and not surprising to me, how it wasn't very populated. At first, I was obviously surprised. Thinking back now: older kids are at school and parents are usually at work at 3:00 pm on a Friday. The only people that might have inhabited the site at that point in time were adults with small children and the park rangers.

I did see a park ranger at one point in my studies. He walked into the office building by the playground, and that was all I saw of him. I wondered for a long time If I should get up and go interview him, but decided it was best for me to just sit and take in the scene. That's what intrigues me the most at this point: the park rangers. They will be the ones able to tell me whats been happening in the park areas and the chasm itself. They're the ones able to actually give me the most information here. It both excites and scares me to find out more about the park, mainly because I'm not sure whats there to find out. 

One event that disturbed me happened on the playground. A small child was running around playing; He couldn't have been over three years old. He was running after my brother, and fell up the stairs. Looking around, I couldn't find his mother anywhere. This obviously distracted me from note taking. I wasn't sure what to do...go help this child or find his mom? Surely, she came over after hearing his shrieks, and picked him up off the ground. Where was this lady before? This disturbed me the most because the presence of family outings is a main thing I'm hoping to find at Purgatory Chasm. I hope the involvement of family activities isn't changing as much as it seems to be in society.

A Little Background

I am a white, 17-year-old girl from broken middle class family in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and lived in Whitinsville for the first couple of years of my life. My parents divorced when I was 3; my mom and I moved in with my aunt for about a year. She then began a relationship with my stepfather, and we moved to Woonsocket. I've lived in the same small apartment since first grade, even when my little brother was born. I went to one of the best public elementary schools in the district which greater prepared me for honors classes throughout middle and high school. I played field hockey and golf in high school, as well as sang in the chorus and select choir. I also traveled to Rwanda, Africa last March, which impacted my life greatly. I graduated tenth in the Woonsocket High School class of 2013, and am now at Rhode Island College studying towards a major in radiology.

Family is very important to me. Since mine has been broken almost my entire life, I'm interested in studying the change in family life. I spent a lot of time at Purgatory Park as a child, and have a lot of subjective memories there. I also have subjective feelings about family life. These feelings, however, will probably make it easier for me to conduct my research. I see things as an outsider: I've never grown up with a happy family like I believe most kids should have the privilege of having. I'm content with the way my childhood was, though. It makes it easier for me to see both sides of family life.


I'm doing my field study on Purgatory Chasm State Reservation in Massachusetts. The subculture mainly focused on in my field study is a split between families and hikers. . . mainly “outdoorsy people” in general. I feel as if society is changing, families don't seem as close today as they were when I was a child, and I want to find out if my inference is true. Also, do people who spend a lot of time out doors have a specific reason why? Do the park rangers enjoy their jobs? So many questions could be answered by small interviews conducted within these subcultures.


I'm concerned about Purgatory Chasm being a kind of boring place to conduct a study. After my first day of conducting field notes, it already seems like the park would be populated more on the weekends verses on a week day. Also, how much information will I gain from Purgatory? It may be interesting to me, but what about those reading my paper? How can I form an interesting final product with such broad information. The anxiety of not having a set topic to write about seems to be getting to me already. Hopefully as the note-taking continues, the field study will become more interesting.   

A Little Rocky...

Nature at It's Finest

Have you ever visited a place outside so peaceful and tranquil to you? Sunshine beating down, warming the spot where you sit?  Most people could call this their "happy place". This spot wasn't exactly out in the spotlight for me. Choosing a field site to study wasn't the easiest job. I wanted to find some place meaningful that also captivated me. My first choice, Diamond Hill State Park, brought back many memories, but thinking about the future, proved to be kind of boring. The other day, I drove through Purgatory Chasm State Reservation in Massachusetts and instantly thought about changing my field site. It was like a message from God...I have history there, it's heavily populated AND interesting! Purgatory Chasm has many caves and inlets where it's easy to get stuck or lost.  I can recount many times as a child sitting in a small cavern feeling stuck and alone.  Maybe now that I'm older, I can do some more exploring.  I also associate the reservation with family because of the various family functions held here in the past. I'd really like to know the history of the park, and more about the nature within it.  There are many park rangers around to interview, and many others just around exploring!  I'll be blogging about anything and everything I personally find interesting (or maybe even not interesting).  Any sights, smells, feelings, etc. will be recorded here.  Purgatory Chasm will, hopefully, turn out to be my "happy place".