9:15 am on Tuesday Oct 20, 2020

       My fifteen minutes of focus felt like forever this time and I think it was because it was a predominantly quiet morning. There were little to no cars. I didn’t see or hear my usual squirrel and I had finally picked out a name for him so I was extra sad :(. All around this morning was just very different. Since there wasn’t much going on around me I was drawn to the beauty of the sky. Just sitting there looking up was so peaceful, it immediately made all my worries float away, it was just so pretty to look at. The sun was shining but since it was on the opposite side of the house it wasn’t too bright. The birds were chirping but not flying around so the sky was empty. The wind was blowing but not too much to distract me. I was just staring into the sky. I was so focused that I felt that I could feel the earth spinning. In my 15 minutes I learned that I need to do this more, just to be able to float away into something so beautiful was warming. 

      During my auditory tuning I didn’t hear much in the very beginning. All I could hear were the annoying crickets that never seem to be able to be found but are always heard! Then a few minutes into just sitting there with my eyes closed, I could hear some birds and I was so into it that I could tell they were on the northwest side of my house, just chirping away. They weren’t obnoxious like the crickets so I was able to appreciate them a little more. During my tuning I didn’t hear but maybe 1 or 2 cars go by so there were very few sounds in my surroundings. It was very peaceful just using my hearing and made me feel more aware of my surroundings then being able to just say “I saw” this or that but definitely made me worry a little more about what could be around me since I have never been an outdoorsy person. I definitely liked just listening but I probably would not do it again unless asked because I am a scaredy cat even though it’s just my backyard. 

     When doing my sit spot it was identified as a Maiten Tree but when looking back I don’t think it is. I am pretty sure that the tree is an American Lime Tree that is also inhibited with common ivy. American Lime trees are considered good shade trees and when my mom used to cook out in the early summer, she would sit under the sister tree that is on the side of my house! If I am right the leaves on the trees will turn yellow because the American Lime trees’ fall foliage is yellow.

       The leaves/ plants were identified as Gotu Kola but once reading up on the plants I am thinking that maybe this identification was wrong as well because apparently it’s native to wetlands in Asia but the plants look almost exactly alike! Gotu Kola plants can be used as a medicine herb and a culinary vegetable. 

       This is indeed an eastern black walnut! I checked this one because when I first decided to watch them as one of my objects my mom told me what it was a walnut so I just wanted to make sure she knew her information, but mothers definitely know best! A fun fact about these walnuts is that if they are harvested BEFORE the hulls have decomposed they are edible but I wouldn’t try it!

       I think that I will use this information to be more excited about what I am looking at. Now that I have this “device” that will tell me what I am looking at, I will be able to better know exactly what I am looking at (with a little research).

In all this was another great experience! I like getting out of my comfort zone, and it’s starting to feel like I am not being forced anymore which is really good for me being the nature person I am! I definitely appreciate the smaller things a lot more than I did on the first sit spot and a little bit more than I did on the second one! It’s my new piece of mind 🙂