Ever since I was young I have found it impossible not to get excited as the scorching summer heat gives way to the cool fall air.  The leaves change color and for me the best part of the year follows.

1. Oktoberfest(aka beerfest), coming from strong German ancestry, the beer is in my blood.
   
2. Halloween – Any excuse to dress in a  ridiculous costume and act like a different person is fine by me.
   
3. With halloween comes pumpkins and growing up it meant a trip to the pumpkin patch, hay rides and Stevenson’s Apple orchard.
4. My  birthday (turning 25 this year) and deer season follows. It is almost time to start breaking out the gear.
   
5. Finally, fall brings us to camp fires, the use of fireplaces, bonfires, and reasons to gather around a big flaming pile of wood, relax or share stories.
   

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So what does it say about the cultural construct of America?

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Picturesque vision of Vermont as the season changes.  There is a mixed feeling for those living here — beauty and 60” of snow, tourism and village life.  There is a tradition that has emerged where this colorful change represents something serene. A tradition is a practice, custom, a story that is memorized and passed down from generation to generation. This landscape has become a type of visual folklore as much as it is a natural phenomenon.  Folklore serves to validate a culture, to romanticize aspects of it, and to transmit a culture's morals and values. The harsh realities of Vermont’s coming winter are forgotten and the bright foliage becomes the the backdrop for Americana.

Vermont

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While it may in fact be hotter than hell out, the thoughts evoked about the season exemplify the joy we seem to take in transition from one state to another.  Like a counterpoint to spring’s associations with rebirth, fall holds a deeply moving, symbolic space for populations that experience it. Death and decay lead to a period of reflection before rebirth.  

Kansas

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A celebration of death and fear transformed into creative acts.

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When I had children at home Autumn conjured up the excitement of Halloween - costumes, candy and fun. Taking out the Fall clothing - a few sweaters, heavy weight pants (not jeans) and searching for long sleeve shirts started the process - which would turn into a shopping spree as outgrown clothing was the norm. A certain sadness of summer - passing (living in Chicago) would decorate our thoughts - turning our attention to thinking of long, cold, snowy winters and wondering what's in store. Thinking of 'can we go away to sunny places' over Winter Break would take up a few brain cells. Looking forward to family Thanksgiving holiday - always a bright spot. Given our latitude - would enjoy being outside as long as possible w/o freezing our butts - given that 'early' Chicago snow!

With kids away at college - first year of that - kindof sad re no Halloween MO and the feeling of Fall taking on a different perspective. Now, it's 'when will parents day visiting' at college, and filling-in-the-blanks to try and get-out more without the kids. Yep, now an emptynester and it's an interesting path that takes some getting used to. At least the 'outgrown clothing' scene is over -- growth spurts no longer - and not good for the retail industry!

There are a few insights here -- will leave those up to you. Best, L
Posted by Lisa Radin

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Greetings Citizen Anthropologists:

  Pumpkins, sweaters and the smell of burning leaves.  It is a cornerstone of Norman Rockwell paintings, but what does the change of seasons mean to different people? Autumn begins in the northern hemisphere on the 22nd and we’re looking for how the season manifests itself. It’s been too long since, but we have a new challenge.  How do people mark the change of seasons?

  If  you¹re submitting images, create a photo essay or a photo story. If you¹re submitting video, it needs to be at least 90 seconds and have a thesis. And this week we want comments - you need to tell us 1) what is going on 2) where it was taken and 3) why it matters. In other words, what insight can we draw from it. Email your results to: post@ethnosampro.posterous.com <mailto:post@ethnosampro.posterous.com> or embed a link from Vimeo/YouTube.

Go forth,

ESP

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In places riddled with coffee shops, it’s difficult to stand out.  Each venue has to have it’s own sense of identity and place. Shops develop a sense of shared identity with the people who  venture into them.

Lawrence, KS

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Is it invention of tradition or something else?

London

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Coffee culture is emerging in Asia and it is fascinating. The socio-cultural role the coffee shop plays seems tied to a sense of modernity and international sophistication, not unlike the role of the sushi restaurant found in every town over 250,000 in the US.  Like all cultural transferences, it takes on new meaning and new elements of material culture.

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Greetings Citizen Anthropologists:

From the dinner plate to the oversize mug, we're now looking at the
sub-cultures and rituals that have evolved around coffee. Coffee shops are
more than places to get a beverage or pick-me-up. Coffee shops play an
important role in socializing. They convey a different meaning in the
collective psyche than do taverns, restaurants and other places of shared
food and drink. From the independent shop to the corporate behemoth, coffee
shops provide a space of comfort. What do coffee shops mean to you? To the
people in them? This weeks challenge is to explore these places and tell the
ESP community what they mean and how they mean it.

If you¹re submitting images, create a photo essay or a photo story. If
you¹re submitting video, it needs to be at least 90 seconds and have a
thesis. And this week we want comments - you need to tell us 1) what is
going on 2) where it was taken and 3) why it matters. In other words, what
insight can we draw from it. Email your results to:
post@ethnosampro.posterous.com or embed a link from Vimeo/YouTube.

Go forth,

ESP

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Blood is one of the least used parts of the pig and it’s a terrible waste.  Not just in resources, but as a culinary experience. And in many cases, it endows the adage “blood is thicker than water” with a wealth of meaning. It, like the butchering, is part of a family tradition — it creates bonds of familial piety, it teaches lessons about the importance of food is the greater social milieu, it pulls people together in a primal understanding of the role of the family bond in survival. It even teaches us about cosmology.  It may look like just a bunch of blood and gore, but it is so very much more.

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Meat from the sea, so to speak. Sitting at the sushi bar, you can’t get much closer to your food (several of the dishes at this place go from live fish to plate in a matter of minutes). But there’s something not quite the same when killing and eating a non-mammalian animal, though I’m sure my vegan friends would disagree.  We may find them beautiful and engaging but fish, like reptiles, are just a little too alien to produce the same response we get from eating Bambi.

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Here I am with my “healthy” lunch (never mind that the veg are so riddled with pesticides, herbicides and preservatives as to be little more than toxic dumps) and I have to ask whether or not it’s a meal.  I’ve added chicken to the mix which seems somehow to give it “meal” status, but without that meat it would just be food.  It would fulfill the task of eating, but not the sense of well-being, comfort and transition that the MEAL provides.  At one time, meat meant “feast,” it meant something special.  Now it is a commodity and I suppose our children my come to see meat simply as food.  The meal will vanish or be redefined by context, degree of preparation, etc.

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Socializing ritual – chicken wings at the Peanut (naked with sauce on the side, and blue cheese dressing) – served with pitchers of cold beer. Everyone is Happy!

Phyllis Schapker

Phyllis.Schapker@gmail.com

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In January my wife and I made a decision to stop eating red meat. And at
first it was mostly for health reasons. I have high cholesterol and I wanted
to try to lower it naturally without taking my prescription. My wife has
always sort of been on the fence about whether she likes meat or not.

So, being an avid meat eater my whole life and coming from a line of
farmers, I had a hard time imagining my meals without meat. Every time we
ate, it felt like I was just eating side dishes without any real substance.
But, over time I have grown accustomed to life without meat. We still eat
some chicken, seafood and eggs here and there but for the most part, I don't
eat red meat anymore.

Finding replacements for meat isn't all that hard. I eat more vegetables,
hummus, pita, beans and we even planted a garden to try and save more money.
Meat is pretty expensive so eating this way has saved money in the long run.

And, as I said, in the beginning it was for health reasons, but the more
research I've done about meat processing and chemicals and butchering
processes and preservation, it has become about more than my cholesterol. I
generally feel better, my digestion has improved and I enjoy the reaction
from people when they say "You don't eat meat?" and they look at you like
you just pissed in the punch.

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It isn’t just about being “sanitary.” Sometimes it’s about being “clean.”  And that can really freak some people out.

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Package it, slap a label on it and sell it for $4.99 a pound. It's as simple as that when you're selling groceries, right? Hardly. Food, meat in particular, is tied to cultural sensibilities about production, cleanliness, family values and a host of other topics. 

Meat, like Norman Rockwell images of the American farm, is myth. We've been conditioned to turn away from the origins of our food and respond to blood and death with repulsion. Or have we? 

With wealth comes the desire to learn about where our food comes from, how it's produced and what exactly is in it. The point is that shopping for food is an increasingly complex process as has less to do with securing calories than it does with symbols and meaning.

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Greetings Citizen Anthropologists,

Meat! It’s more than food, it is a symbol. It is part of the primal psyche
of us all. The challenge this week is to talk to people about what meat
they eat (or don’t eat), how they chose it and what it means to them. What
is going on at the butcher, the meat counter in the grocery, the co-op? What
is “normal” and what is “weird?”

If you¹re submitting images, create a photo essay or a photo story. If
you¹re submitting video, it needs to be at least 90 seconds and have a
thesis. And this week we want comments - you need to tell us 1) what is
going on 2) where it was taken and 3) why it matters. In other words, what
insight can we draw from it. Email your results to:
post@ethnosampro.posterous.com or embed a link from Vimeo/YouTube.

Go forth,

ESP

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