Date: 12/06/2019 ||Time: 11:57 – 13:02 || Temperature: 47* F
Weather Conditions: Cold, not very windy, it feels like it should have been snowing, weather app says 30% chance of raining in the next hour
My spot has changed since my last session. Most of the trees are 98% barren of leaves, some have only a few dozen leaves left clinging to them. The unusual tree I had referenced in post 5 (the one where all the leaves had fallen off the top, but the base of the crown was almost completely full) had also lost all of its leaves.
The yew trees I did for post 3 (or 4?) looks the exact same. It is still dark green, with a full figure, the occasional red berry standing out if you look long enough. The trees, beyond the loss of their leaves, are the same. None have been cut down or fell over, and even the branches seem intact (surprising, considering the wind we’ve had).
When I sat and just observed, I could hear and see the apartment sprinklers were going off again, and hear people coming in and out of Tinker (some talking, others not). The sounds of the door echoed against Tinker Beach, making them more apparent – as if I was standing right next to it. The sprinkler sounded much more distant and I couldn’t really focus on it until I closed my eyes and really listened. A little way through the session, a security golf cart drove through (destroying the grass more than it already was). I could see squirrels doing their courtships (chasing and running away), some burying or looking for buried food. A bird (?) was chirping nearby. I think it was a little bird, as it squeaked more than cawed. The sky was cloudy, and looked almost ‘flat,’ and was dark grey. It looked like it should have like it should be snowing (I wish!) It was a little too warm for that though. The weather app I use said it was going to rain, but it hasn’t yet.
The three things I had observed had changed, except for Frank’s burrow. I had yet to see her in an official capacity (having only seen her in passing during non-sessions, and even then, I haven’t seen her in almost 3 weeks!).
The tree had changed in that the leaves had all fallen away, and the bark seemed to keep getting more and more contrasted the base of the tree dark brown, almost black at a distance, the branches were white freckled with brown.
The tire tracks were so much worse than when I had first started tracking it. Back then, it was hard to see, you had to be standing almost completely over it to see it. Now there is more mud than grass, the tire tread pattern clear as day. One area is complete mud, and when I went to follow them down the hill, the trail was so muddy I almost went tumbling down it (it was very slick and my shoes have no tread).
I really liked this experience, and I used to do this all the time a few years ago but I feel out of the habit the busier and stressed I became. I realize now that, if anything, having an hour or so to just be outside and observe nature without worrying of thinking about my workload or stress is really important at my busiest times. This experience also made me realize that I didn’t have to be completely submerged in the wilderness to enjoy nature. I will always enjoy nature more if the area is more rural and removed, however, I can also sit and enjoy nature in areas that have people or heavy foot traffic nearby. I think the thing I will remember most clearly about the sit-spot sessions will be the yew trees. It was fun to completely illustrate and focus in on an organism. To find these ‘clues’ to what it could be and deduce the identity from there.
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