My sit spot

I chose my location very precisely. I wanted to be near a water body so I looked around campus for the perfect spot. My sit spot is a little far from the pond in front of Tinker. There is a small opening among the bushes which leads straight to a mini waterfall in the creek and as soon as I saw that, I knew that this was the place for me. After    I chose the area, it was a little difficult for me to choose a spot to sit. I wanted to be near the creek but at the same time I also wanted to have shrubs and plants around me so I could observe them changing overtime. It was quite a search until found a place from where I could see the creek as well as be near the plants. Also, I chose this particular location because I think it is very convenient for me to visit whenever I feel like (and not just for the blog journal).

I sat there for one hour and 13 minutes facing 255o W. I couldn’t see the sky since the trees were covering it. It was a gloomy day though but luckily it didn’t rain. I could see the other side of the creek pretty well from my spot. There were two broken trees and they caught my eye instantly. It was fascinating because I could see the roots of the trees above the ground which means it wasn’t cut down by a human. I was wondering what could have caused this tree to fall from the roots. The interesting part about it was this that there were no moss or fungus growing on it. I could see a section of the creek that looked like a mini waterfall. The water tumbled down gently but the sound of it was very soothing. I love the sound of water, be it a waterfall or just a calm river flowing, which is why I loved my spot so much. The water was carrying a lot of dry fallen leaves along with it. The blend of colors added more to the beauty of my sit spot.

Sketch

Other interesting parts of my sit spot included a plant that was umbrella shaped and the tree right in front of me that had crevices. I had positioned a towel (I couldn’t find anything else to sit on) right under an extremely long tree and at eye level, I could see ants and other insects crawling around the crevices of the tree. I saw a lot of dragonflies and got terrified when I saw one sitting right next to my pencil case. I could hear frogs croaking in the pond which was a little further from my sit spot. I could hear some birds chirping but mostly they were making some weird sounds. I tried to listen to the sounds made by all these animals but since the sound of the water was overpowering, I couldn’t really focus on them. (This is something I need to work on when I visit my sit spot next time)

 

I observed that a lot of the trees had already started changing the color of their leaves. I could also see that many trees had already stated shedding their leaves. I witnessed a series of different leaves on the ground. Not all that I can identify but I was trying to figure out which leaf belonged to which tree. Obviously, I couldn’t figure most of it out (I will try to find it out by my next sit spot assignment). In certain time intervals, I took long breaths just to relax and enjoy the serenity. I could smell the damp grass and the bug spray that my friend applied all over me. I could also smell something unique and I believe it was either the trees or the fallen leaves. Either way, it was very comforting.

This was my first time going out in the nature all by myself to just sit there and observe. I specifically chose a day when I didn’t have much workload so that I could relax and reflect on everything that has been going on around me. At times I did feel a little scared because of the insects and wanted to run away from there but somehow I gathered the courage to complete it. Initially, it was a little difficult for me to focus but then I tried again and managed to get my brain to work. It was a great experience overall and I am already looking forward for my next sit-spot assignment.

The three things that I really want to observe in my sit spot are 1) the broken trees, 2) the waterfall and 3) the umbrella shaped tree. All of these have already been described above but I really want to see how these change overtime. I want to observe if there is any change in the bark of the fallen tree during winter, I want to see if the water falls at the same pace in winter as it does now and for the umbrella shaped tree, I thought it would be interesting to see what it looks like without its leaves.

 

The mini waterfall

The broken trees

The umbrella shaped tree