The sit-spot I chose was behind Tinker. I chose this place because it has easy access to get to and not a lot of foot traffic from other people. Another reason I picked this place was because of the beautiful landscape around me. I was facing Northeast towards the new apartments. It was a peaceful place besides the mosquitoes attacking my legs. The place was grassy with dead leaves that had fallen off the tree that I was sitting under. There was a chill in the air, and my instincts were telling me that rain was coming soon.

 

As I sat on the grass, fighting off the mosquitoes and other tiny bugs flying around, I was able to enjoy the peacefulness of nature and how calming it can be. After taking a few deep breathes and clearing my mind I was ready to focus on the landscape around me. I noticed one tree off in the distance had already started to change colors in the leaves. Some were green like they were in the summer, but some were starting to take on their fall color, yellow. The bark on the tree limbs were a light grey/white which made it stand out more than the other trees around it. In front of the grey/white tree, there was a green and white fire hydrant, which was representing the Hollins colors.

 

About southwest of me, I heard a plane flying and I thought to myself,

I wonder where it might be headed. It soon passed and I was on to the next thing. There was not really any smell in the air but the smell of nature around me. There may have been a slight smell of a rainstorm coming through, but it shortly passed. I observed the ground around me and noticed how many clovers were blending in with the grass. I also happened to notice these pretty tiny purple flowers that were growing right beside me. They were way prettier to look at than the brush pile of dead brown leaves and sticks that was also beside me. I did not look at the pile for long before I moved onto the next thing.

 

There were not a lot of animal life in the spot I chose. That will most likely change over time, but for now I only was able to see tiny black birds flying overhead. They flew in a large group together, but I was not able to get a good look at what type of bird they were. There were not any squirrels in the spot which was surprising because they are all over campus. Bugs on the other hand, there were a lot of those. As I mentioned before mosquitoes were out like crazy and so were the gnats.

 

Overall, my experience in my sit-spot was decent. It taught me to wear long pants the next time I sit out under the tree. At first it was hard to connect and focus on just one thing instead of all the things that run through my mind. I got the hang of it a few minutes in and began to focus more deeply. No music, no texting, no calls, no emails, just me and the nature around.

 

One thing that stuck out to me was the little bump in the side of the hill. It looks like it was a tree that had been cut down and all that is left is a stump with little saplings sprouting from the old stump. I noticed it had tall grass around the bump and some of it was green and the other half was a light brown. Also, I will be observing the tree I sat under. I am unsure what type of tree it is but it is dark grey, green, and a hint of red in its bark. There is light green mold or moss growing on the branches and bottom of the trunk. The leaves on the tree are still green and I do not believe they will change color like other trees do. The roots of the tree are massive and stretch out and it has taken most of the nutrients out of the soil because the grass around these roots are brown and dry.