e p h e m e r a l c o m f o r t The route which I took from the start point to the end point Wednesday, 18 September, 1996. Fire Hydrants Photographs (taken Sunday, 28 September)of each fire hydrant on my route give some sense of the immediate area. Hydrant photos are distributed randomly on the pages within this site. hydrant 1, hydrant 2, hydrant 3, hydrant 4, hydrant 5, hydrant 6, hydrant 7, hydrant 8, hydrant 9.

abstract
Maps usually chart physical territories. They are definitive. And yet so much of what influences our sense of a place is not definite, precise or contained. It is ephemeral, shifting across time and space. And it is based in personal experience.

The question of comfort/discomfort arose before our group's first visit to the site, and my own comfort was very much on my mind when I first walked my transect. In restrospect, I realized that I was most comfortable at the times when I was making contact with other people, both familiar and unfamiliar.

Three classmates were awaiting me at our meeting-point when I arrived. I felt happy; the place felt comfortable. And yet it was a concrete lot, adorned with loose garbage and weeds. Had my friends not been there, I would no doubt have had a different sense of this place.

I chose to continue to focus on comfort as I explored the neigborhood further. On a Sunday I interviewed two men at the Shop Rite on Brown and 48th. I was amazed at how different their feelings of safety/comfort/discomfort were, and at the varying factors that influenced these feelings. The next day I interviewed six more people in and around Aspen Farms community garden. New factors emerged.

People's sense of comfort varied with so many things:

knowing or not knowing the people in an area
(Mr. N, Mr. F , Mrs. K)

time of day
(Mr. G, Mrs. B, Ms. A)

being on foot versus being in a car
(Mr. G, Mrs. K)

age
(W.R., Mr. G, Mrs. B, Ms. A)

physical ability
(Mr. G)

prior experience
(W.R.)

attitude
(C.K., Mr. N)

[4 routes]