Thursday, October 27 5:15 pm — This week’s Sit Spot was the first that actually felt like it was actually fall. The birds and insects were much quieter than they usually are. The ground was covered in leaves from all of the trees in Beale Garden, and even the bed of Beale Creek is full of these decaying leaves. It was chillier than it has been in a while and an overcast day. Just like the autumn trees, the shrubs along the edge of the creek are beginning to dry and wilt.

My three items that I follow each week are the sound of insects, the flowering bushes on the other side of the creek, and the depth of the water. As I stated, the insects were quieter than usual and the bushes are not only no longer flowering, but the leaves are wilting and turning yellow.

Though the depth of the water is around the same each week (shallow and still), the amount of dead leaves at the bottom of the creek bed seemed like a significant thing to note. They are almost polluting the creek, there are so many. It also appeared as if they may have had some sort of algae growing on them. This looks like an important step in the yearly seasonal cycle this creek experiences. Hopefully, these leaves and algae will decompose into important nutrients that can be used in this area, also well as carried down to other parts of the Valley’s watershed.

One of the plants I identified in my last Sit Spot was a golden reishi mushroom. It looked then like ti was beginning to decay. Only a week later, the decaying process seemed to be moving quickly. I wonder how long it will still be in Beale Garden before it has completely decayed.

During my fifteen minute observation of a one square meter area, I observed a patch of earth between a cluster of large rocks on the side of the creek. It looked as though there was really only one plant growling here, with circular leaves. If the plant was longer, it could look like a vine. The other most common plant life was fallen dead leaves. When I moved some of them around, I saw little bugs scurry from the leaves to hide under the surrounding rocks.

I enjoyed this fifteen minute exercise because I garnered a better understanding of how lush the community is at my Sit Spot. Even in just a one square meter area by the creek, there is an interesting plant species and a handful of different species of insects crawling around. Even though Beale garden, is close to the heart of our campus, it is still teeming with so much life.