When I first sat down in my sit spot, it took me a lot longer to find a headspace to where I could begin to tune into nature and everything that was going on around me, and not focus on the things that were going on inside (like, my head). It is very easy for me to feel overwhelmed, and to mentally have a lot of chaos inside of my head for long periods of time at the end of the week. It took me a while to tune in, however, after visiting my sit spot for a while now, I have learned not to rush the process of me finding peace of mind/ being in the headspace to tune in. It took me around 35/40 minutes this time to really get into the zone. I’m thankful I did take that time, because once I did, it was easier for me to take in observations about my surroundings. The first thing I noticed was how bright the sky was this time in the morning. I was perplexed by the sky today. I find that in my sit spot, I notice how little during the day I really look up. We are all so focused on our phones and looking down at our feet that we miss the marvels so close to us. The sky was so beautiful, with crystal clear skies at this point in the day, and wispy white clouds. The ground is getting a lot more firm and cold with the changes in the weather and temperature, which I noticed right when I sat down. I’m glad I came earlier in the day this time, as opposed to the evening as I did last time. While I did find that there was slightly more vehicle traffic, it was much easier to focus and there weren’t nearly as many people busying about. I focused on the grass for a bit and truly how little action there was to find. I strained to find even ants, but the cold ground and dying grass allowed for no visitors. It was beginning to seem like my sit spot was becoming a place less traveled. I find it hard sometimes to remember to focus on many things at once. When I first got wrapped up in the sky and wondering what the birds up there were doing, or focusing on telling stories in my head about the clouds, it took me at least ten minutes to realize there was much more in my sit spot that I needed to pay attention to!

There wasn’t much to report in my three things, which was very sad for me! As you can see from the picture adjacent to this- my purple flower is no more. It is still standing upright, but the bud and any remnants of the once purple color, are no more. I’m aware this is the life cycle of a flower, and it makes sense that this is what happened due to seasonal and temperature change, but I felt very attached to the flower. It was the only one in my sit spot, and I found myself feeling sad about the flower having died. However, I think it’s interesting to stop and think of how attached I’ve gotten to my sit spot that the death of a flower had made me sad. The birds were calling much louder today, which is another reason I was thankful that I came earlier in the day than I did last time. The ravens were back, and it was slightly warmer (not by much) than last time. There were a few other bird calls I began to hear, they were sharp, shrill, and brief. But they were definitely there, and bird calls I hadn’t heard before then. For my last thing I’ve been following, my insects, there was a minimal amount of activity on that front. I made caught a glimpse of a few here and there, but the grass (as you can see from above) is slowly dying more and more each time. It was hard to even see the ground through the brittle grass, and it was clear that it was not a desirable hub for action anymore. I have a feeling this action will keep decreasing as temperatures cool off even more, however I am still holding out that I will have more visitors to my sit spot than I have had in recent weeks.

  For my ten minutes of focus, I wanted to concentrate on the birds. It is the subject to which I am studying for my independent research project, so I find that when I have extra time to sit and observe, my mind and ears go to the birds. They were far up in the trees, and some were distant, but it was so cool to hear them again! I was nervous last time, because I barely heard any birds in the evening, but this time at my sit spot, I was able to watch where I thought they would be in the trees. At one point, I saw a few ravens fly treetop to tree top. I wondered briefly if ravens were a social species, and if they traveled together frequently. I also wondered how the winter weather would affect their location and presence in my sit spot and how sensitive they were to climate. I also wondered about the other birds I was hearing- and which birds would be the most resilient in the changes in temperature and season.

For my auditory tune in time, I have to admit, before coming to my sit spot and reading over what the prompts were for writing in the journals, I was nervous for this part. I find that when I close my eyes and try and focus on listening to something specific, I feel my mind wander to other things. When there are no visual cues to keep my mind occupied, it is much easier for me to lose focus. I was hopeful that if I had taken enough time to let my mind settle before doing this (extra time adjusting to quiet observation, etc) that I would have better luck. At first when I closed my eyes, my mind begin to wander everywhere- much farther away from my sit spot. However, when I really focused, everything else begin to melt away and I could focus on my sit spot environment. It wasn’t easy, because as soon as I closed my eyes, my brain took it as an excuse to think about everything I had to do over the weekend and worrying if I would get it done or not. However, I have found that mentally grounding myself has become much easier the more time I spend in my sit spot, which helps those skills when I am not in my sit spot. I could remind myself in that moment that I was not away on a film set worrying about getting all the shots finished in time- I was here, in my spot, listening to the world around me. When I snapped back into it, I was laser focused. I found myself going back to the birds, and really listening to what I thought they were communicating back and forth to each other, and what I thought they might be talking about. Then, the more I focused, I could hear crickets- and a lot of them! I was so glad to hear them and to know that some of the insects were still preserving in my little spot. It was really comforting to hear them, and reminded me of being back home on my farm, outside in the summer listening to crickets while lying in the grass with my mom and little brother.

There were many changes to notice, as winter swiftly approaches. Although it may be dramatic, like the title of this blog, when I first sat down in my sit spot, my first thought was.. “there’s been a burglary, a leaf burglary!”. Because in a way, there had been. As winter temperatures begin to swoop in, a few of the trees in my sit spot have taken quite the hit. The tree that sits directly in front of me (as you can see from the very first picture) has no leaves left on its branches. I was stunned at how much change has occurred here in the few weeks since I have visited. My last visit at my sit spot, the leaves on this trees were all just turning brilliant shades of reds and yellows, and now, they’re completely gone- barely even recognizable on the ground. Also, the patch of grass directly in front of my sit spot is dwindling. It has turned brittle and brown. And while these changes have been occurring, the area to the right of my sit spot (pictured to the right) still has the majority of its grass with the tree leaves intact. I wondered if it was because that tree has much greater resilience to the elements, and is less impacted by seasonal change. While that would explain the leaves- that doesn’t explain the grass differences in rate of decay. My only thoughts for explanation for  this was that the healthy grass all has tree coverage over top- possibly protecting the grass from some elements, as compared to the patch of grass directly in front of my sit spot that has little to no tree coverage.

Overall, this experience was different from my normal sit spot experience. I felt that as the seasons are changing- so are the things that affect my headspace going into my sit spot. The semester intensifying definitely has had an affect on how long it takes for me to find my calm headspace, to which I am able to quietly observe. However, as long as I don’t rush getting to an observational headspace, and I keep taking the time that I need to with minimal distractions, I find that my sit spot has become an essential part in helping me clear my head, and I am very thankful to have this time!

Time spent in sit spot: 97 minutes