(Arrived 12/6/19 @ 11:30)

The air smelled cold. Its hard to describe, but it’s the smell of melting frost mixing with leaves and dew. The world seemed gray and lifeless, the only color palettes to be seen were various shades of dead brown as trees planned for winter and green from the grass resisting the changing seasons. The stream was also quiet, as it was the last time I visited. Also, the water level seemed lower and almost void of life. I could feel my fingers numbing as they cooled in the frosty air, and the tree stump I was sitting on absorbing all of my warmth. Surprisingly though, I don’t think I really ‘missed’ anything, but I did see some differences with the old tree stump that rested on my left. The hole through its center that had been carved out by bugs seemed different. If I were to guess, I’d say that the bugs ate away even more of the bark and the hole was substantially bigger, or at least it was on the side of the hole closest to the stream.

Since the pond skaters had finally disappeared from the surface of the stream, I decided to focus my attention onto the three objects since the only other thing to watch were the crows and they sat stoically the whole time I was there. The first one I’ll mention is the stream. Other than being devoid of any visible life, it still had decomposing leaves on the bottom of the stream, and it still had that dead look it had last time with its lower water level and quiet flowing. Touching the waters surface revealed its icy feel, though it didn’t take touch to figure that out. The tree stump I sat on was more of a white than yellow color I had first noticed. The only reason I could think of as to why that would be would be from the moisture in the stump slowly evaporating away as time went on. The object with the most difference had to be the old tree stump though. Its outer bark and the plants growing on it looked a bit more dead, but besides that it mainly looked the same. The thing that was truly different wasn’t a characteristic on the outside of the tree but of the inside. The inside was even more hollowed out and I could see where insects formed small holes from carving out pieces of the wood until it resembled that of sawdust or course dirt. It was interesting seeing death once again reincorporate back into the ecosystem.

Unlike yesterday, the air today was windless yet the sky was very cloudy, as if it would drizzle. Though it eventually sprinkled a bit in my sit spot, for the majority of the time there wasn’t really anything. I think the clouds in the sky this time would be called stratus. They were uniform and so close to one another, they looked like a continuous cloud stretched out across the sky. The only differences I saw were in certain points on the clouds where there would be a spot that was slightly different from the light gray color the other clouds had, but that was it. Because of the clouds endless look, it was hard to tell what direction they were coming from. That, or they were moving so slow they looked still.

At first, I started with my eyes closed but I got nervous and had to open them(haha). So with my eyes open, I spent the next ten minutes letting my eyes focus on nothing and listening to the world around me. I could hear the quiet hissing of the stream, and the occasional cry of birds that were perched high in the trees. It seemed like the world was holding its breath while I listened. Besides the birds and the stream, I could hear nothing, not even the tiniest whistle of wind of the sound of a squirrel running around. The only sound I could hear was the occasional car passing by behind me. With all the silence, this activity wasn’t nearly as fun as it had been in the late summer/early fall when I could hear so many different sounds of life.

With me sitting in this sit spot for the first half of the semester, I can’t help but feel a connection to it. It’s a nice spot with a beautiful view that enables me to see so many different things. I was able to see a deer in its natural habitat, and see crayfish swim around, catch fish, and drag them into their little dens under rocks. I could see trees flower and dropped their seeds to the ground below to become food for animals who would carry them to distant territories. I could also see bugs do work on the tree stumps and grass as the seasons changed. Maybe when it starts to get warmer, I’ll sit out there and just enjoy life with the occasional listening to music. Thank you for the opportunity to spend my time here!

(left @ 12:30)