The Size of the World

One of the things that struck me as I was wandering around the San Juans last weekend was that, although people of 150 years ago often did not leave the 20-mile radius of their homes, the kinds of homes they owned were far more diverse than what I think of "property" today. For example, my backyard - although large by Seattle standards - is really nothing more than a big grassy area with some trees, a rock wall on one end, and an overgrown area on the other end. Contrast that with a 160-acre farm, which could contain forests, streams, rock outcroppings, and so forth.

I find it difficult to conceive of owning a piece of land so diverse, and being so familiar with so many different kinds of things within my own property - but by many standards, I'm much more "worldly" in that I've travelled to different continents, been all over the US, and have made a tradition of going to Canada every summer.