Date: October 13, 2019
Time: 1:08 pm – 2:02 pm
Temperature: 64 F
Wind: 4 mph
It wasn’t as sunny as last time, and I could feel a soft breeze. I closed my eyes for a while. I was then able to focus more. I could hear the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. This time I could not hear the crickets, and that was quite surprising. After a while, the blacking out of my eyes made me realize that I had been sitting there with my eyes closed for a long time. Squinting, I looked around. Reviving my senses, I noticed that the landscape around me had changed a lot. The mud had dried up somewhat, but now I could see a lot of brown leaves on the ground and less green leaves on the trees.
I looked around the dried leaves and twigs, there were more of them this time. The shape of the spider webs also varied — I guess it might have been the wind. Then, I moved closer to the cut open tree. Last time I felt like she was all alone. As I scrutinized, I could see more ants and bugs crawling inside her. I was glad that she had some company.
Just like in the bigger ecosystem, water has been a huge part of my mini-ecosystem. Water is integral to all aspects of the surrounding. The main function of the water in my mini-ecosystem is to propel plant growth. It also provides nutrients and minerals necessary to sustain physical life. The plants around me mainly get their quota of water through rainfall and groundwater.
Surprisingly, I saw someone new around my sit spot today. She was moving briskly along the bricks. Her body was covered in tiny brown and black hair. She was a large caterpillar. As I had never seen a caterpillar in my sit spot before, I was curious about where she came from and where she was headed. After observing her for a while, I started wondering if she was able to hear the same sounds that I could hear. Could she hear the sounds I made while moving around my sit spot?
The tranquil environment was perfect to be mindful and connect with nature. I felt grateful to be at such peace. It made me want to go there often and practice mindfulness. The noise inside my mind has reduced a lot and I think visiting my sit spot has helped me destress. The whole experience was therapeutic as the aftermath felt calm and relaxing. It felt good to not think about anything else for an hour. It felt good ditching my phone inside the pocket of my joggers and not having them out.
-Binika Rijal
Nice pictures and neat siting of the wooly bear caterpillar!
I like that woolly worm! I’m not sure if it’s a wives’ tale but I’ve heard that you can predict winter seasonality based on their banding- the longer the black bands the harsher the winter, apparently. At least that’s what my mom says. The down tree is neat! It’s really fun to see how the environment naturally recycles dead and decaying material, in this case making a house of the stump. It’s a beautiful cycle.