#2 - Sense of Place

My name is Helen Susan Coleman and this is my second journal entry entitled “Sense of Place – Your Neighborhood.”

The Blog Journal instructions explain that “sense of place” is understanding the environment around you, your comfort zone, where you feel most at home.

I think that the place I feel most at home is at my home. We bought our house on Azore Court in Jacksonville, Florida in 1986 and so we have lived there for 24 years. When we moved into the house my husband and I had been married 13 years and our sons were ages 9 years and 6 years. (Prior to buying the house, my husband was in the U.S. Air Force and we had moved around frequently.) This is the first and only house we have ever bought and our children grew up in this house – so it is a very special place.

We live in a cul-de-sac. There are ten houses on the street. Our house is located at the end of the cul-de-sac and we have a very large, five sided fenced yard. It is a one story concrete house. We originally had an in-ground pool, but about four years ago, we filled in the pool and now have grass all over the yard. The inside of the house is all dark colored wood paneling. I love it. A lot of people think it is too dark; but I feel very safe and secure when inside the house – it is like a protective cave.

Here are some picture of my street and my neighborhood:







Probably my favorite place – my sense of place – is when I am sitting on the deck in the front yard. I like to sit out there and drink coffee or wine (depending on the time of day). We have two German Shepherd Dogs (named Sabre and Sascha). They are indoor dogs and stay inside the house all day while we are at work. So, in the evenings we often just sit outside, so they can be out in the yard. They lay out in the yard and look down the street. The dogs like to be outside – but they like being with us more, so if we go inside, they will go inside. We try to sit outside with them as much as we can, so they have an opportunity to outdoor. We have a large weeping willow tree in the front yard. Oftentimes, Sabre (the largest and oldest dog) lays under the weeping willow tree. When he does that, I stop what I am doing and just “drink in” the picture of this beautiful sable colored regal animal laying under the dropping limbs/leaves of the weeping willow tree. It is a priceless picture that should be painted by an artist.

When I sit on the deck in the yard with the dogs, I feel a real sense of peace and the worries of the day (from work, bills, etc.) just seem to float away. It is almost like time stands still.







Take a walking trip around your neighborhood. I live in the San Souci neighborhood of Southeast Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. San Souci is a French word that means “no worries” or “carefree.” According to the city profile information, approximately 30,000 people live in my neighborhood, mostly married couples. One interesting thing I learned about my neighborhood is that it is in the Eastern time zone at 30 degrees latitude (same latitude as Wuhan, China) and -82 degrees longitude and has an average elevation of 19.02 feet sea level). A major and very busy intersection – Beach Boulevard and University Boulevard – is in my neighborhood and Harvin Road is an offshoot from that intersection and there are three cul-de-sacs that shoot off from Harvin Road and my street is one of those.







Memorial Hospital of Jacksonville is only a couple of blocks from my house (located on University Boulevard). We often hear the ambulance sirens when we are home. One good thing about living near a hospital – is that we are on the same electricity grid as the hospital and if the power ever goes out (particularly in a hurricane) – it is usually one of the first areas to have the power restored – because of the hospital. There are sidewalks in my neighborhood and an elementary school and a junior high school within walking distance of my house. The other thing we really like about where we live is that it is right near the expressway (I-95) and we can pretty much get to anywhere we want to go from our house in about ten minutes. It is an older neighborhood with older houses.


Map of Neighborhood from City of Jacksonville website:





Observe special environmental features, green design, sustainable aspects, species, wildlife, etc. I don’t think there are any special environmental features in my neighborhood. It is a quiet neighborhood and most of the people have lived there for years. There are many yards where children play and many dogs and cats in the yards. Many of the homes have swimming pools. Most of the pools have solar heaters with the solar panels on the roofs of the houses. Also, many of the yards have the solar powered lights lining the walkways. Most of the houses in the neighborhood are older homes, having been built in the 1950s, so there is not very much green design. Some of the homes are powered by gas and some by electricity. There are many domesticated pets in the neighborhood. As far as wildlife, since we have lived there we have seen armadillos, raccoons, and snakes. In the evenings there are bats that fly around. There is a wide variety of birds – blue jays, woodpeckers, robins, mocking birds. There are ducks and geese in the pond at the hospital. There was a time where pet rabbits escaped from a home and then multiplied in the neighborhood and we saw a lot of white rabbits all over the place. There have been two occasions since we have lived on our court that alligators have come up from the sewer pipes and actually been walking on our street. Animal control had to be called to pick them up. There are many orange trees in the yards of our neighbors. Another very popular tree in the neighborhood is the crepe myrtle. We also have palm trees and pine trees. Some of the yards have azaleas and brightly colored flowers. We also have some wild blackberries growing in a lot of the yards. As far as sustainable aspects – there are neighborhood schools, churches, grocery stores and gas stations. It is a safe neighborhood where people often take walks or bicycle in the evenings and on weekends.

What sustainable or ecological features do you notice? A lot of the sustainable and ecological features of my neighborhood have already been discussed above. The soil is good for growing plants and some people have small gardens. The land is pretty flat.

Draw or write about an area where you have a feeling of Sense of Place. I already discussed above why one of my favorite places (sense of place) is sitting on the deck in the front yard of my home, watching my dogs. This is a place I can feel relaxed and tension melts away. This is a place I can go to when I want to think or just feel happy or sad. This is the “place” that I think about that I want to go to and to be at when I am stressed and not at home. This is a “place” I can carry in my thoughts. I do think that “sense of place” has to come from within and you have to feel that “place” because sometimes you cannot physically be there. I think about the soldiers fighting in foreign lands – surely they have a “sense of place” within them where they can conjure up that special place and feel more at ease. My grandmother used to tell us kids that we have to “bloom where you are planted.” I thought that was a really dumb statement, until I got older and figured out that you have to make the best of the situation you are in at the time and you have to continue to grow in every situation.

I also think that the South is a sense of place. In our travels all over the country – I am the most comfortable in the southern states. I like the warmth, the sunshine, the hospitality, the sense of a slower pace (as opposed to northern, eastern and western states) where lifestyles can be very different from what I am used to. I also have a “sense of place” when I go to the beach and sit on the sand and watch the waves. I love to hear the sound of the waves hitting the shore and smell the salt in the air. It is timeless and peaceful.

Also – I know from years of working experience that working in a beautiful and clean environment is much more productive than working in a crowded, ugly building. I have worked in an office in a warehouse facility that was dirty and messy. I have also worked at City Hall in Jacksonville, which was newly constructed with an atrium and was beautiful (almost opulent). But the feeling of being in that building was wonderful. The office where I work now is very new and modern with lots of glass and chrome and modern equipment and look and feel. Having worked in both environments, it is a much better feeling, to work in beautiful surroundings.

Pictures of City Hall – beautiful place where I have worked in the past:





Also, this probably sounds crazy to anyone who has never experienced it – but I think bikers have a “sense of place” when they ride their motorcycles. It just feels “right.” If you ride a motorcycle and are not able to ride for a while you start feeling anxious and longing to just get on the bike and ride. There is a Harley quote that is – “If I have to explain it, then you wouldn’t understand.” That is very true. It has also been said that a biker understands why a dog likes to stick his head out the window. This is not actually a physically place – but a place where when you are there it feels right, like all the planets are aligned, the clouds open up so that the sun shines and all is right with the world. I love to feel the wind on my face, smell the smells of the places you ride past, hear the sounds or the silence, feel the rain or the sun or the cold.






I also feel like I have a “sense of place” when I am with my family. I am the most comfortable when I am alone with my husband. We have been married for 36 years. We can talk for hours or sit comfortably in silence. I feel a “sense of place” when all of my family (children, grandchildren) are together. It is like we “belong” and it is a fun and easy time. Oftentimes when I am at work – I can’t hardly wait to get home where I’m loved and appreciated. I like my friends and my co-workers and my neighbors – but I feel most comfortable at home with my husband.

I don’t think that the term “place” used in the context of “sense of place” simply refers to a geographic location – I think it involves much more than that. The “place” in “sense of place” is something that is meaningful and significant, it has emotional factors and is a “place” that gives one a chance or opportunity to think, to rest, to feel, to grow, to experiment, to investigate, to change, etc.