Day: November 3rd

Time: 1:06pm-2:00pm

It was about 50 degrees when I went to my sit-spot, but boy did it feel way colder today. My other times sitting at this spot had been so much warmer given the time of year at which we started these blogs. I found that the change in temperature made it extremely difficult for me to focus. It was especially challenging when I first walked up and sat in my sit-spot. This is usually an easier part for me, tuning in and being present in this space, but today I was much more focused on and I would even say distracted by how cold. I sat thinking about the temperature it was for what felt like years until I was finally able to direct my focus, even if it was just a little bit more on-task.

When I began trying to direct my focus, I noticed I was still giving a lot of attention to the cold. I didn’t seem to be able to get past it. Eventually my focus became a different type of focus than I was used to. I was looking at things differently than I had before. I tried to not notice the things around me in such grave detail to began and looked to the experience as a whole. When I did this, I felt like the cool crisp air made the world around me seem clearer. I was unsure if that was because of the recent rain this week or if something about it being crisp just made me feel as though it was a clearer sky. I laid back in my sit spot looking up at the treetops with the backdrop of the clear sky.

I noticed how in my times at this spot, I haven’t really taken the time to enjoy what lies above me because I have been so focused on all that is around me. There is so much in the treetops that I have been neglecting to pay attention to. In this treetop, I noticed the story of fall unfolding before my eyes. With every faint breeze leaves of varying colors fell to the ground. There were some trees with yellow leaves fading to brown. One of the trees I had noticed in my last time here when I was watching the water reflect off of it still had quite green fanned leaves which was interesting to me. I began to wonder what type of tree this was as it did not look like any sort of evergreen I had seen before and I don’t know what other types of trees stay this green into November.

Here is a picture of the green tree!

The Sycamore tree I have been following since before my first sit spot has gone through such a transition in my time here. It has now lost almost all of its leaves and what remains are a small number of brown leaves, all drained of life. The lack of leaves on this tree has caused me to begin to pay attention to its woody bark much more than I had initially when it was dressed in bright green and then began fading vibrant yellow.

Sycamore Tree

The waterfall has actually finally changed! I was so excited to see the waterfall have a steadier flow of water than it has previously had in my times here. I feel as though it moves a greater quantity of water than it used to. In previous times here, it had been the same. In the last blog post, our focus on water drew my attention to the water in a very different way, I had begun to think about the drought and how it may impact the creek. I am unsure if the seemingly larger flow of water is more normal for this area or if the days of rain have caused an excess of water. I will be sure that I am keeping an eye on its levels continuing.

Waterfall

The foliage is also now showing the time of year extremely. What is left of the foliage under the trees has turned much darker and is all but wilting away. The shift in density also caught my eye when I came to my sit-spot. This area used to be so full and now it is much thinner and just full of leaves. These all seemed to be factors in making this space look much less alive than it has before.

When going from paying such close attention to these objects with my eyes, I noticed that picking up on noise is not something I am very good at. I come from a household of 5 children and am so used to blocking out noises that I think I have been doing this in my space the few previous experiences. When I had my eyes closed, the waterfall seemed so loud that it was overpowering in a sense. I had to almost sort through sounds in order to find something other than the rushing water.

Once I had tuned into hearing and was trying to only use this sense, I began to notice how much of human activity I could hear and must’ve been blocking out during previous times. With it being in the middle of the day, people were out and about. I could hear cars going past me and people talking as they were walking to and from Siberia. My awareness was shifted because I have always felt a bit more secluded than I actually am. I think because I have been looking into the direction of nature, I had forgotten about the human world that is directly behind me.

Coming back from experiencing my space with only my auditory sense, I decided for my focus I would pay attention to the foliage. I did this because it is a point in my sit-spot that I feel I look at a lot but do not always fully observe as I felt I did with the noise. I think the main reason I do not usually focus in on this space even when it is one of my focus points is because of the anxiety it used to give me. This small space of plants seemed like an entire jungle when I began coming to my sit-spot. While it is deader than it has been, I still found life in ways I do not traditionally think of.

There have been lots of bugs in this focal point before which with the constant movement I have a hard time focusing. Today because of the cold temperature, later time of year, and the lack of density, the number of bugs has greatly decreased. I now really got to look at what was left these plants for what they are. I noted earlier how they were much greener and denser in my previous times at my sit-spot but even in what felt like a dwindled state, they seemed to be so full of life. I thought about how each part of these plants were alive and trying to succeed for the next season. I wondered what this looked like for each one of these plants, I do not know much about them as far as what they are or their functions so I would love to be able to know the internal changes these plants are going through to plan for the winter and next spring.

The majority of changes are simply those of the season. The ground has a lot of leaf litter covering its once densely green bed.

The grass that once made up this densely green bed now seems to be a little weaker, frailer than it has before. It is still green but no longer seemingly vibrant as it has been. I think this is due to the cold nights and now two days we’ve had. It is odd to see a space I felt  knew so well be quite different than it was before. It was also interesting for me to be in this space within the context of looking for change because when I drive or walk past it, there doesn’t seem to be much change. Yet when I’m looking for them, I somehow become hyperaware of the difference in the grasses texture and the density of leaves both in the trees and on the ground.