Blog Reflection

I was not excited about having to keep a blog for this class. I didn't like the idea of other people reading my writing, no matter how good or bad it is. I was really reluctant at first. The biggest thing that changed my mind with blogging though were the free writing assignments that we had to do for warm UPS and essays. First of all, practicing the free writing helped me with me essays a lot, especially with the brainstorming part. Sometimes my biggest struggle in writing is just getting started. Free writing was a great way for me to try to fix that. Another reason that I enjoyed free writing is because it helped me gain comfort with blogging. The more I wrote, the less awkward I felt about the whole situation. I never wrote anything that I felt needed to stay private or anything like that, but I still felt weird, so free writing helped me over come that. I also enjoyed the blogs of other students. It gave me a chance to get to know some of my classmates better. I really liked some of the blogs that other students posted, plus it gave me ideas on some of my future blog posts. The discussion board in our online class was very helpful with that as well. Sometimes I just couldn't think about anything on the spot and going to the discussion board or other people's blogs helped with that. After seeing other people's thoughts, I realized that there was so much to say, so many topics that I could have written about, so I felt silly when I had a mind blank. Overall, this assignment has helped me in the subject of English. I feel as though I have gained a bit more confidence with the writing process as a whole, and I have a new respect for writers, bloggers, and journalists who do this every single day. I realize that they enjoy it, and that is wonderful, but I'm sure even they get tired sometimes and yet they still push through it and write, every day.

Smell

Smell is the hardest thing to describe. Unless its food related, it’s hard to compare smells when describing them to someone. The scents that stood out to me at the abandoned amusement park were the leaves, pond, and stony smells. The wood smelled too; on the buildings. Oh, but the house, it was very distinct, I forgot about that. The stone of the house had a nature like smell to it, as it was covered in vines and such. But the inside is what stood out the most. The dilapidation of the home caused the place to have an old scent. The furniture was cloth, so it smelled moldy from stagnant air and dust settling. The dust was very apparent to all of the senses. You could smell it in the air, and when approaching something closely, it would make you sneeze. Outside there was that fresh air scent, and I remember being glad that I could breathe easier. You could tell that the wood was painted a candy brown on top of the original darker brown that was the natural wood, so it smelled like old paint when we approached the old game stands.  These stands surrounded the pond. The closer we got to the water, the more we smelled the moss and dirt that had taken over. You know how some places have that earthy smell? That’s what I thought of when we reached the pond, it smelled like the earth rather than the water. The watery smell came when the rain fell. Once it started raining, the humidity lifted and everything we were smelling altered slightly, just as the feeling of everything changed. It seemed like the leaf and grass smells were stronger once it started raining. Like everything was amplified because of the water that was falling on it.

Feeling

Touch is probably my favorite of the five senses. I love feeling things and noticing the different textures. My family always laughed because I had to touch everything as a child. That has definitely carried over into adulthood. In the train yesterday, for example, I felt the seats that looked different to see how the material felt different from each other. Then I touched the window to see if it was hot or cold since it was a cooler day yesterday. I felt the air coming through the slit in between the two rail cars and the dust that settled on the machinery in the same area; it gave the metal boxes a rough texture. So of course, when we hiked through the remains of Dogpatch, I had to touch everything, just like I did when I was a child. On the way down the drive I ran my hands through the tall grasses to feel them brushing against my skin. I would stop quite often to feel a leaf that looked smooth or a cluster of flowers that looked interesting. I felt the rocks that made up the building of the caretaker’s house. Part of them were smooth, a few were rough. I’m not sure if they were made that way or if they were weathered down after forty or so years of standing. The wooden doors were warped and rough against my fingertips, but the doorknob was still smooth. Inside, the air felt thick from dust that continuously builds up and never gets a chance to be blown around. I really enjoyed feeling the moss and plants that surrounded the pond. It was so thick that it held up small items without them falling into the water, but it is moss, so it was still damp. Some of the lichen that built up around the rocks of the pond’s edge was completely dry. It flaked when I touched it, just like the paint on the walls of the house and the breaking wood of the game stands. When it rained I felt everything in a totally different way. Everything was slick and some things were slimy. A strange feeling.

Sound

I know Springfield isn't a big city, but we still have some of the city feel when it comes to sounds. The cars driving by, especially on the highway, occasional sirens and horns going off, crowds of people in the shopping malls, etc. So the first thing I notice in regards to sound when I set foot in Dogpatch USA is silence. Compared to Springfield, it was silent. I was trying my hardest to be quiet too. I'm not sure why, maybe because the rest of the area was quiet; I didn't want to disturb the peace. On closer inspection, though, I realized that there were all kinds of sounds going on. They were just more natural sounds. Birds mainly, they would chirp and screech as they flew overhead. Sometimes I could hear the mumbling chirps of a bird sitting near the place we had walked past. The frogs on the pond were quite noisy as well. Not only did they make their gurgling sounds and deep throated calls, but they hopped into the water with a satisfying splash that could be heard from some distance. Since the amusement park was right next to what used to be a main highway, we did hear a car pass by us sometimes. Not very often though. My favorite sound was the rustle of the leaves and the rain. When we arrived there, it was hot and muggy, but there was a slight breeze that would move the tree branches and leaves, creating a uniform rustle. About an hour into our walk, it started to rain. Not a heavy rain, but a steady, light rain. It was so serene. The animals quieted with the coming of the rain, besides the frogs, but the sound of the frogs with the rustling leaves and soft rain was a wonderfully peaceful combination.

Brainstorming List

- Pythian Castle
- Ponca, Arkansas trails
- Dogpatch USA
- Parkview High School
- Hudson River State Hospital
- Nathaniel Greene Park
- White Chappell Memorial
- New York, New York
- Kansas City Haunted Houses
- Pensacola, Florida
- Rush, Arkansas
- Princeton
- Albion
- Liberty/ Ellis Island

Sight

The first thins you see when you walk into Dogpatch is trees and vines closing in on the narrow cement driveway. It's a fairly long walk, but the greenery is pretty. To the left there is a small, rock house, probably belonging to the previous caretaker. It too has vines creeping up the sides. The downstairs window is broken; vandals, I'd assume. The steps that lead up to the front door are covered in brown dirt, leaves, and blue-tinted glass from the shattered door window. Inside the furniture remains, still and drooping from years of stagnancy. A fine dust has gathered on the canned foods that were left in the kitchen cabinets. The dilapidation is apparent in the peeling paint on the walls and the sagging ceiling. Once you leave the dim light of the house, you are blinded by the sun once more as you make your way up the cement walkway that leads to the pond, which is the center of the theme park. Surrounding the pond in close proximity are wooden buildings that look like they used to house game stands and the like. Further out you can see the remains of the rides that were popular in the late eighties; the old water slide towers above everything else, followed by the trolley and rails that once lead up to the roller coaster. The pond itself is green. One of the brightest, and lightest, greens I have ever seen. The culprit is moss. So thick you could probably place your tennis shoes on it and they would not touch the water. It is buzzing with life. All sorts of creatures live in the pond now; frogs, fish, bugs, etc. The wreck center near the game stands still hold some tables and chairs, though most have been knocked over, broken and painted on. Every window that the building held had been shattered at one point or another in the 12 years that the place lay abandoned, so the floor to the large cafeteria and kitchen were glittering with the blue tinted glass. There was even still old food in the giant walk in coolers. On the grounds, the rides lay rusting, what little rides were left anyway. I'm sure most, like the roller coasters, were taken down at the closing of the amusement park. The water slide and trolley remained, as did some of the boats used for bumper boats. Only two of the bumper boats remained above water. The rest were sank or sinking in the pond. The faded reds, blues, and yellows were a testament to how vibrant the park was before it's financial demise in '92.

Trains vs Planes

I can't decide which way I prefer to travel: via plane or train. Both are very exciting. Our flights down were interesting, the first lane was tiny and smelled bad; there wasn't a lot of leg space or a need for flight attendant service due to the small size. The second plane, though, was bigger, a smoother ride, had more leg room and awesome stewardess services. On both flights my favorite part was not the accommodation, but the views. It is so neat seeing everything from a bird's eye view. The take off is exhilarating and the landing is fun to judge how well the pilot does. The two train rides we took today were similar to our planes. The first train was incredibly smooth and fast. There wasn't really much of a space difference between the two, and no type of services, which is fine. The second train was loud and bumpy. We sat towards the back of our car, so you could see the car behind us and where it connected. It was crooked. Every time the train would turn or act like it hit a bump the car behind us would slam into ours. But, like with the plane, I really enjoyed the views. I like seeing all of the hills and trees whip past the windows, and then all of the tall buildings once we came out of the tunnel that went under the Hudson River. And as freaky as it was, the connection between the cars was interesting to watch. So there are some parts of riding on a plane and a train that I like, and some that I don't. I certainly can't decide which is my favorite though. Hopefully, I will get to travel a lot in my future, and then I can take both ways of transportation often.