My cozy sit-spot with my blanket, and of course, my Kavu.

I chose a sit-spot on campus by the creek because it reminds me of my yard at home. After walking along the edge for a while, I decided on a flat spot underneath an interestingly shaped tree. The spot is right across from the soccer field, near the back of Moody.

 

I arrived at my spot at 10:55 am, which isn’t very early in the morning, but the ground was still covered with a thick dew. Initially, the thought of having to sit in the wet grass for an hour was very discouraging. However, I laid out my blanket and got to observing. Before long, I didn’t even notice the wetness and really enjoyed being out in nature.

My basic sketch of my sit-spot.

The grass and the plants around me were a bright green, full of life. The occasional brown leaf scattered the ground, reminding me of the mortality of all living things. The tree I sat under was mostly filled with green leaves, but a few limbs branching off from the trunk were dead. A deep green ivy was growing up and around the base of the tree. I loved the pattern of the ivy and I decided that it would be the first of the three things I watch over the semester. There also was an interestingly stacked pile of branches under the tree that I was super curious about. I chose it as my second object, as I am interested to see if it changes over time.

The pile of branches beneath the tree that I’ll watch during the semester.

I was drawn to the thick grasses growing along the shore of the creek. The area seemed to be lusher than some other places along the creek, but I could not locate a visible indicator as to why that could be. A single red flower grew up along amongst the grasses. It wasn’t a particularly breath-taking flower; it was just a flower. Some of the petals on the

The tree I chose to sit under and the ivy I will be watching through the semester.

bottom of it had died and turned an ugly, brown color. Still, I really loved this flower and chose it as one of my objects to observe throughout the semester.

There were a lot of bugs and birds to be seen and heard during my hour at my spot. The first thing I noticed was the loud hum of the cicadas. It pretty much became background noise after a few minutes, since the cicadas have been the soundtrack of summer in the South this year. When I first arrived, there was a bird singing in the east, but I wasn’t able to identify it. After a few minutes, a Carolina Chickadee landed in the tree above me and was very vocal. She stayed there, hopping from branch to branch, for quite a while. She was really enjoyable to watch, and I was pretty sad when she took off flying and didn’t return. Not long after she flew away, several birds all around began calling back and forth. Along the water, I was able to hear a few crickets, which surprised since it was during the day. There were several boxelder bugs, yes- I definitely Googled “little bug with red back and black wings”, that decided to hang around almost the whole time I was there.

This red flower growing along the creek is the third thing I’ll be watching during the semester.

Since my spot was super close the road, there was a car go by every few minutes, leaving a soft hum in the background. Sometimes, when it was quiet, a leaf would fall from the tree and *thud* on the grass. The first time it happened, I was focused on watching the water and it spooked me a bit, since I wasn’t sure where it was coming from. I never had noticed that a leaf landing in the grass made such a noise.

My view of the creek facing South.

The sky was beautiful pale blue color, completely cloudless. Although the sun was bright, a soft breeze and the shade from the trees made for a comfortable temperature. The air was damp and had a distinct smell of wetness and mud, probably from the dew soaking the grass.

I’ve always been an outdoorsy person, I grew up with a large thicket surrounding my house so from a young age, I loved to explore. At one point, in my life, I wanted more than anything to be a conservationist. As life seems to go, however, as I got older and busier, my love for the outdoors was pushed aside. It seems, though, that even after the first week, the sit-spot project has reignited that love.

The view of the creek facing North.

What kind of nature activity would be complete without my Chacos!