Humble Beginnings

Last weekend I returned to North Carolina after almost three years of absence. It was the first time going back 'home' purely as a visitor - I no longer have the roots to this place which most who know me don't believe in the first place.

From the airport I picked up a rental, which turned out to be a Prius. Driving down the highway with open windows, there was soon the smell of organically fertilized fields and Alabama's old hit "Song of the South" came on the radio. I smiled to myself reveling in the very appropriate disjunction of the super digital hybrid car in this slow changing, fuel dependent place.

Many people have dispositions about the south and the slow, seemingly backwards lives people there lead. Looking back however, throughout this trip I came to understand how some aspects of North Carolina likely influenced me and have stayed with me through the years. First, I saw that NC is a truly beautiful and quite lush part of the country. A four hour drive east to the coast showed many functional ecosystems, along with the thriving agricultural state. Seeing these scenes as an outsider changed my perspective - it was certainly the first time I wasn't immediately angry upon encountering a tractor pulling hay down the road I grew up on (moving around 5mph down a 55mph windy country road).

I started to think about the people's link to the land, because in areas it is still strong and apparent there. Highways in NC are very rarely bordered by concrete or pavement, most medians and virtually all roads are bounded by broad vegetated ditches - the very same phenomena I now study from my New York architecture office as sustainable design implementations for stormwater called 'bioswales'. I find it a pity that common sense didn't out-sway land greed to lead the planners of most American cities to retain a bit of green space for natural drainage.

Sustainability happens in places like North Carolina in this way - it's a matter of common sense rather than science. I remember my step father building a roof over our west facing porch to shade the facade until the trees filled in. He took great care to plant trees specifically across the east and west facades - my step father did not need 6 years of college education to talk about sun shading and solar heat gain.

My best friend growing up there lived beside of her grandfather, who had moved down from the coal country hills of West Virginia. He would burn their trash regularly in metal barrels rather than hauling it to the landfill. This always seemed an odd practice growing up, but looking back I realize that I still have yet to meet a family that takes more care in recycling and the separation of trash. The concept of taking care of waste locally lead them to meticulously sorting items as well as composting food waste for their garden.

Despite NC's current status towards the bottom of the environmentally thoughtful states in this country, I find some hope in the small practices that persist there. I still met people of various education levels who have an understanding of the natural beauty much of the state possesses, and a sense of heritage towards it. I heard few concerned conversations about the environment, but plenty about the cost of fuel. Overgrown fields in areas previously over-manicured show a start for dealing with and consideration of the rising oil prices. Hopefully North Carolina won't forget its traditions and relationship to the land and manage instead to sustain and preserve itself.