For my sit spot, I chose Beale Garden which is located directly behind the Cocke building. I chose the garden because it is somewhat secluded from the rest of the Hollins campus and therefore has relatively low foot traffic. Beale Garden has been one of my favorite spots on the Hollins campus since I was a freshman, so I knew it wouldn’t be too hard to motivate myself to get there! The garden has a path that loops around the creek that runs through the center, as well as some benches and natural sitting areas. Right now, there is a lot of shade coverage, so I decided to set up a hammock between two of the smaller trees, facing south, towards one of the two bridges.

One of the first things I noticed was some tall grass, which I will be watching throughout the semester, peeking

Tall Grass that I will be watching this semester

out from behind the bushes and starting to brown towards the creek bed as well as some yellow and orange flowers still in bloom. I went to my sit spot in the early evening, so it was not as hot and quieter than normal since it was later in the day.

I didn’t see any animals while I was there, but I did notice quite a few mosquitoes and ants crawling over my flip-flops in front of me. As for things I heard, I heard what sounded like cicadas coming from the west and crickets to the east. There was a third type of chirp that was coming from the north that I couldn’t identify.

Although there wasn’t much water in the creek while I was there, I could still hear the water moving and overlapping the rocks. I will also be monitoring the water levels in the creek throughout the semester. I know

Creek and water levels I will be watching

that in the spring it tends to rise considerably since it tends to rain more but I am curious if the fall and winter will bring any such change. The wind rustled quite a few bushes and branches near me, as well as made my hammock straps creak a little more underneath me.

Tuning into my smell, the air was sweet, with a hint of fall. Similar to the smell of winter and firewood but dulled down a bit and overshadowed by the smell of flowers. The sky was covered mostly by the leaves on the trees from where I was sitting but the sunlight was muted by the overcast clouds and the sun starting to set behind the mountains to the west.

My first focused time in my sit spot went by faster than I expected it to, and I could have easily stayed for hours, as I have done countless times before. I felt as much at peace as I normally do when I am in the garden, but being able to tune in to the world around me rather than tune it out, gave me more to write about in my journal than I thought I would be able to.

I already mentioned two of the objects I will be following this semester, the tall blades of grass on the creek bed and the water levels in the creek, my third object is the foliage on a tree just east of the bridge I was facing. I thought it would be interesting to see how the blades of grass changed through the changing of seasons,

Tree that I will also be following this semester

whether they would wilt and turn brown, or stay green throughout the fall and early winter. As for the creek, I mentioned that the water levels tend to rise in the spring, and I am curious if there are any such substantial changes in the fall and early winter. The foliage on the tree already is starting to yellow towards the top, but not very noticeably. I think it will be particularly interesting to see pictures of it throughout the semester to more clearly indicate change. I feel like all too often I forget what the trees look like without leaves in the summer and vice versa in the winter, thus the changing visual will be a nice addition.

I look forward to continuing to follow my objects as well as spend as much time as possible in Beale garden.