Terrain.org essays in this issue:
 

Faith in a Forgotten Place
by Julian Hoffman, with Audio and Image Gallery
2011 Nonfiction Contest Winner

New Orleans, The Gulf Coast, 2010
by Catherine Schmitt, with Audio and Image Gallery
2011 Nonfiction Contest Finalist

At first, I see the lake, and then the wetlands, splotches of green amid the blue as far as I can see through the tiny oval airplane window. After the hurricanes, after the oil — we are late. The first random dot stereogram was invented by Dr. Bela Julesz in 1959 as an experiment to test stereopsis, the ability to see in three dimensions.

Hill of the Sacred Eagles
by Katie Fallon
2011 Nonfiction Contest Finalist

There are no eagles at Thirukalukundram’s Eagle Temple. The famous pair of large white birds vanished years ago and hasn’t returned. They were not, in fact, eagles, but Egyptian vultures, Neophron percnopterus, scavengers that soar on five-and-a-half-foot wings above dry landscapes from southern Europe to central Africa. Until the mid-1990s Egyptian vultures were common throughout India.

The Fire This Time: Down the Charles River
by David Gessner

I paddle through the afternoon on the Charles River, watching the pulsating light on the under branches of trees. Somewhere on the other side of this living green wall cars are rushing to and from the city, but that doesn’t concern me. How many types of weather can I name from the day? Too many to count. The wind comes up, the water ripples, the clouds blow over and create a chill, then disappear; after the sun bears down, the wind stops, and a short rain falls.

Pitanga
by Eleanor Stanford, with Image Gallery

When I left for college in central Virginia at 18, my mother gave me a guide to the wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I remember flipping through the pages, savoring the rich language of the plants’ common names: Blazing Star. Mayapple. Heal All. Since then, I’ve taken the book with me from one place I’ve lived to another: Florida, West Africa, Wisconsin, Texas, and most recently, Brazil.

Swimming Among Sharks: A Photo Essay
by Marie-Elizabeth Mali

I remember the first time I saw reef sharks underwater. I was in the Galapagos and my heart raced. I hung back, watchful. But they don’t seem that interested in us, certainly not as food. Shark attacks on humans are more rare than lightning striking humans, yet we still step outside during thunderstorms.