5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

6th Oct 2020

This time I went to sit at my spot in the evening. The sun had just gone down leaving behind beautiful orange color to the sky. I sat at the same exact spot from the last time. The plants looked a little dry from the hot sun, but the light breeze brought refreshment giving plants’ leaves some movement. I have always loved the evening breeze. I looked up in the sky and saw a flock of birds going back to their houses (probably). Though, small birds, I think sparrow, were still playing and running around the guava tree. The guava tree has fewer guavas now because we have eaten so much of it in the past few weeks. The breeze started becoming a little stronger but not too strong. I could also feel some mosquitoes buzzing around my ears.

Then, I went ahead to look at three things that I wanted to see from the last blog. The woodpecker mark on the trunk of the guava tree was still the same. I was hoping for it to get bigger because that would mean I have woodpecker in my garden but sadly it was the same. Next, I observed the sky which I wasn’t able to last time, as the sun was really strong. But this time the sun was in its best color. I was changing from orange to reddish. The third thing I wanted to observe today was insects. And I think they come out in the open space more in the evening than during the day. I saw ants, ladybirds, and grasshoppers.

I found the sight of grasshopper very interesting because it wasn’t in the usual green color. It was brown. At first, I thought, maybe its not grasshopper but some other kind of insects. But after giving it a closer look I figured it was indeed a grasshopper. This was my first time seeing a brown grasshopper. It was creeping around carefree, stopping once in a while to check if he has found food. It was behaving just like an ant. Do all insects behave the same way? The grasshopper then disappeared in the grass.

Next, I started looking at the flowers. Some flowerpots had moist soil, and some had drier soils. This took me to think about the wilting point and field capacity of the soil. I wondered how long did water remail in the soils of these flowers and trees before getting pulled down by the gravity. Then, I wondered how water has sustained the lives of all the plants in this garden.

The arrival of all these thoughts came as a surprise to me because never in my life have, I ever allowed my mind to have thoughts about nature. But thanks to the assignment. I have been able to be mindful, not think about anything else but nature. It feels nice to think about what’s happening around us- not with people but with nature. How it is managing on its own to make life possible. At last, the sun was almost gone, and darkness was coming to reside. I realized it was time for me to end my sit spot. I bid goodbye to all the living beings around and went inside.