Whatness, Whereness
The land was ours before we were the land's ... Something we were withholding made us weak Until we found that it was ourselves We were withholding from our land of living, And forthwith found salvation in surrender. - Frost Americans today usually talk about "place" and "property" as though they were interchangeable. But if you are going to really consider "place" the first thing you have to do is separate it from the concept of property. Both place and property are matters of possession, but it's who and what are possessed, and how, that are important. "Property" is a cultural convention whereby a person has the belief, confirmed legally by properly filed papers, that he or she possesses a piece of land by virtue of investing some money or labor in it. "Place" on the other hand, is something related to the land that comes to possess a person. - George Sibley Knowing that you love the earth chan...