Katie Blog #5 | November 4th, 2020 | 71 Degrees Fahrenheit | 2:48-3:45 |

My day started off like every other—stressed over the ever-increasing workload and the turmoil occurring in the world around me, forcing me to be separated from those I care about. I desperately needed a break so, of course, I decided to go down to my sit spot. The past week has been a nasty mixture of cold, wet, and wind. However, when I went to my spot it was a warm 71 degrees Fahrenheit with a light, warm breeze passing through. I felt like I truly lucked out with the weather!

At first glance, it appeared that nothing had really changed in this area since last week. I would found out soon enough that this was not the case. As I began my 15-minute tune in, I focused on what I could see and feel, since I typically focus on what I can hear. I felt the breeze brush my untied hair across my face (this quickly got annoying and I eventually pulled it back). The wind that was bothering me was creating changes in other areas of my sit spot as well; large ripples formed on the surface of the creek and then disappeared as quickly as they came. Leaves continued to fall but not as frequently as the prior weeks. The trees to my right and behind me were shaking back and forth ever so slightly as the breeze pushed against the branches. I looked up the weather report later and found that the wind was blowing from the southeast at 5-8 miles per hour.

I am glad I chose to follow both the creek water levels and creekside growth. These are both heavily influenced by the environment and change significantly from week to week. I love coming down to the creek after a big rain or dry spell to see how water levels and organisms have been affected. Today, the water was moving rapidly and most of the leaf litter had settled downstream. A few sticks ranging in size from two to four feet long were clustered together just past the bridge downstream of where I sat. It appears that the banks have yet to be mowed again (thankfully!). The grasses are taller than last week and more evenly distributed—no more clumps. I am still not seeing any remnants of the flowers that existed in this area for just a few weeks before they were mowed. It is likely they will not reappear until next spring. After many weeks, the honeysuckle bush I have been following has finally had a significant change in appearance. When I first started watching it, the leaves were a vivid green and bright red berries were clustered on every branch. The bush originally has hundreds of berries—today I counted just around fifteen.  The leaves are limp and wilted.

All the debris has moved downstream

Where did all the berries go? The berries at the beginning of the semester

A major aspect of this sit spot was to watch the sky and talk about the types of clouds seen. However, when I went to my spot the weather was clear and sunny. There was not a single cloud in the sky. In fact, this was such a difference from only the day before that I began to question if I should stay or come back on a cloudier day. As  I was already more than halfway through my journaling, I decided to stay and continue to watch the sky. After fifteen minutes had passed, I still did not see any clouds forming—not even a single wisp. The sky was a brilliant blue. I was certainly grateful for such a beautiful day. I laid down on my picnic blanket and just watched the sky for a bit longer, taken by the beauty and calm. A few birds crossed overhead and a rogue jet stream obstructed the blue, but only momentarily. For the entire hour I was there, not a single cloud dared to appear.

A beautiful blue sky

 

As I wrapped up with an additional period of focus, I began to realize how truly connected I am not only to this area but nature as a whole. As I am walking around campus, I am looking to see how things are connected to one another, whether it is the impact of weather, animals, or humans on the environment. As I continued to sit and think, I looked down to see a spider crawling up my boot. Normally, I’d freak and get the spider off me as quickly as humanly possible. In hindsight, I am not sure what stopped me from flinging my foot around to dislodge the tiny beast. Was I feeling more connected to nature? Was the sun beating down on my head impairing my reasoning and logic? Who knows. As the dime-sized spider continued to crawl, I remember thinking “Boy oh boy, I hope this isn’t a jumping spider!” Fast forward to checking iNaturalist—it was a jumping spider (can you hear me screaming?!). I shooed it into the grass and only a few minutes later it reappeared…on my knee. At this point, I quickly packed up to leave, grateful for the time I spent outdoors but ready to say goodbye to my new spider friend.

A jumping spider

IMG_6383 For some reason I cannot get the video to be present in this blog without clicking on the link. This is a short video of the spider. I think it is pretty cute but you may want to skip this if you have a fear of spiders!