Living Local - Surveying from Another Perspective
Tamara Burton
My husband Ben wrote an article a few years ago for his company’s newsletter regarding perspective. Given today’s political and cultural climate (and even the current housing market) I thought I would bring it back into circulation.
Recently, while hiking at Marlatt Park in Manhattan, KS, I came across a survey marker nestled into the surrounding prairie grass prominent throughout the park. The marker instantly reminded me of a similar one I had run across years earlier in Maui, HI, planted firmly in a lava field formed 900,000 years ago.
While the survey markers themselves are almost unremarkable, I marveled at the remarkable effort it must have taken to pinpoint the exact location where they reside today. I imagine teams of surveyors working together to plot these points and the boundaries which make up our country, states, counties and cities. These two similar looking markers serve the same purpose but are 3,731 miles apart. What was the perspective of the individual teams setting these markers? Was their perspective effected by geographic features of the time like a hill or mountain, or maybe a riverbed long since shifted, or a stone fence no longer standing or volcanic debris that wasn’t always there? Was their perspective altered by the limits of their tools, whether that be a pencil, paper and some rope or advanced computer software and mapping programs? Maybe their perspective was simply dictated by dueling neighbors or a political squabble. Something as simple as a perspective at a specific time and place interjects itself into our relationships with our environment and each other today.
Around the SMH office I am known as the “non-engineering guy” (don’t ask me what CADD stands for and who knew a “rod” or a “chain” was a unit of measurement??), but I am fortunate to be surrounded by extremely talented engineers and surveyors who work with each other and our clients to create successful projects. Whether our client is an individual property owner, a developer, or a public works department, the perspective from which we work is always shifting. Understanding perspective and how we communicate with each other starts before the project begins and continues long after the project ends; hopefully into more projects. As the “non-engineering” guy it is easy for me to say, but I truly believe, understanding perspective is often the difference between a successful project and a less successful project. I’ll ask my children, “There is more than one way to drive to an ice cream shop, is either way wrong?” To me ice cream is most important, to them ice cream quicker is most important. Neither is wrong, but the answer depends on perspective. Unless we ask questions and communicate, differing perspectives might lead to the failure of our ultimate goal, ice cream.
Whether you are planning your next project, talking politics around the Thanksgiving table, using metes and bounds (land surveying term) or a smart phone to map your course, or simply grabbing some ice cream, try to remember it just might be all about perspective.
Tamara Burton l tamara@thealmsgroup.com l 913-484-0808
