October 28. 11:50 AM.

Before I even get to the spot where I sit, I’m greeted by the second defiant dandelion. They’re so big, stretching up to the sun, as if it were trying to imitate it. They caught my eye first thing. I wish I took a picture or drew it or something. It was such a pretty, bright yellow, and perfectly round. It made me happy to see them all bloomed.
After writing the header, I notice the really big crayfish is here! Has he gotten bigger? I have to know what he’s doing because he is on the move. Tiny salamanders and even tinier crayfish move in fear from this big boy. These tiny crayfish are way tinier than I’ve ever noticed. Are they babies? I unfortunately had to move from my spot to see where he was going. He was crawling to the upturned drain to hide. I know he is well over 3 inches long. Anyways, besides Big Boy, I noticed there were the call of insects around me. I doubt they were frogs, but they didn’t sound like anything I knew. The sky is overcast today, but the water is clear as ever. Fall chills grip me as always, but this time with a gentle, friendly hand. My masked nostrils are filled with a soft, nice, unplaceable scent. As the water striders strode on the surface, they would occasionally collide, or get scared by my stirring, and after they would frantically stride away, but in random directions. It looked like they were dancing.
There were 17 water striders in the pond today. I forgot to count the crayfish, but the salamanders are as small and lazy as ever. Let’s visit some more friends, shall we? The horsetails! They don’t really look different to me, but if I had to say something, they seem to be looking ever so slightly worse. It could be placebo, it could be they actually are doing worse due to the cold weather, and acquiring the bad tan hue. The hydrangeas are the same, as are their inferior neighbors, the periwinkles… Hark! A black speck catches my eye. It’s back! Swimming to the surface then back down again for a puzzling reason. I’d iNaturalist it, but I doubt I’d take a good enough picture. The birds are chirping now, how nice. 😊
I then decide to take note of an under-appreciated part of my sit-spot environment, the stone steps. I look closely at the sparce life before me. God, I will never get over the beautiful color of the lichen growing on the stones. It seems to get more vibrant every time I come here. What are some more green things? Plants. Tiny plants with small, smooth leaves growing vigilantly out of the cracks in the unhospitable stone. Right above, there are bigger, more rugged leave growing out of similar cracks. On the steps so so close to where I’m sitting, soft, incredibly green moss grows. I find this moss nowhere else. I then turn my attention to the ants on the rocks.
The ants are so interesting to watch. They walk along in pre-determined paths, as if invisible roads are laid out before them. And occasionally, two ants taking the same road but going opposite directions will bump into each other, touch antennae and dance around a little bit, and then go on their merry way. Looking at them makes it seem like their eyes aren’t that good, and they need to touch and smell their way around. And then I remember that one picture I saw of a magnified ant face. Click here if you want to see it. Disclaimer: it horrifies me. I am now disturbed while looking at these tiny beings. They are all brownish-red, and so so shiny. As I look closer, their thorax seems almost translucent, with stripes on it. One ant was carrying a back speck in its maw. There are dead leaves, pine needles, and other debris around me.
AND HOLY HECK A BLACK SPECK IS NOW SURFING THE SPRING WATER. I couldn’t help but notice a huge black speck dude striding on top the water as if they were a strider. It was way bigger than the specks that swim up to the surface.
And then my alarm goes off to tell me it’s time to go to work.
I leave at 12:50.

2020-10-28 16-34