Thoughts - World Villages
French Polynesia, Tuamotus, Reao Atoll Village
My mother spent her young years in small towns scattered throughout the American Midwest. She always said it was the best of times. Life was uncomplicated. You knew who to watch out for and you knew who was your friend. Sure, everybody knowing everbody can be a problem. It is uncomfortable when everybody you come in contact with knows your business. That is a small drawback to the positives of village life.
Other villages scattered throughout the world offer the inhabitants unique challenges. Some of these challenges determine life or death. Some determine where you will lead the goats to graze and water.
I have spent the last few days putting together a blog dedicated to villages. I do not add comments, I merely provide a village-encompassing image taken from Google Earth at 1-meter resolution. I also provide geographic coordinates for the curious. The blog has a series of tabs that will allow you to look at villages by geographical regions or you can enjoy the slideshow on the main blog.
American TV would have you believe that life exists only in New York City, Los Angeles and a few other very large cities. World Villages acknowledges that many many people live productive, interesting and challenging lives in small places scattered about the world.
Enjoy!
Labels: farming, fishing, Google Earth, herding, trading, village
