11/4/20
Ruthie Beeland Sit Spot Journal #5
Enter: 9:30 AM
Exit: 10:45 AM
Unfortunately, my time within my sit spot today was another uneventful one, though I did have a few highlights, they are not as interesting as I generally would hope they be. My fifteen minutes of sitting in silence were wholly uneventful, the most I heard was a hawk that calls out and circles around my area whenever I’m around. I also heard a gaggle of geese soar overhead, and I was initially a bit confused about what exactly was making that weird noise, I thought for a few moments that I was about to be attacked by a group of shouting elementary school kids. The air was cold and dry, though the ground at that time was very wet. I put my jacket down to sit on.
An update on my three watched objects is that there is not a whole lot to update. My two plants are doing as well as they can manage with the winter weather, and the browning of their leaves seems to have stopped progressing, so I have a good feeling that they’ll last through the season just fine. My turkey feathers are, unfortunately, but finally, gone. I couldn’t find even one of the remaining feathers no matter how hard I searched.
The sky was pretty interesting in my opinion if a bit clear today. The moon was still out, which I found interesting but seems to have been happening more frequently as of recent. I looked it up and apparently, the moon is visible during the day all the time, but we don’t tend to notice it. It does become less visible around mid-afternoon, however. I identified a couple of clouds, though I couldn’t find more than one type, this sky was not very diverse, sadly. My wispy clouds and jet streams can be identified rather broadly as cirrostratus clouds. They signal a coming storm at its very earliest stages. Though I know it is an actual science, looking at the clouds like this and determining their meaning kind of reminds me of reading the stars or something. Feels like something people might do in a movie.
Today I took the chance to move my usual seat within my sit spot and go look at something new. Near where I usually sit I decided to look at this bit of cinderblock/brick and rotten wooden support planks that I think may have been used to make up some kind of structure. Likely not a house, but maybe a shed or a tool closet sort of thing. I didn’t see any bugs or other fauna here, unfortunately, but I did have a fun time speculating about this lost bit of foundation left to rot. Abandoned places have always been one of my favorite things to go explore, dangerous though it is, and though this was not exactly prime urban exploration material, I still enjoyed looking at it and imagining what it could have been.
The last thing I did in my sit spot for the day was actually a favor for a friend. We had been to this spot in the past couple of days and found two snake skins in an area around where I usually frequent in my sit spot. My friend decided that she’d like to keep these snakeskins and use them for an art piece she planned on doing in a class. We set them out to dry in the sun, hoping it wouldn’t rain, which luckily it did not, and resolved to come back within the next couple of days. I pressed them within a book and slid the book back into my backpack to take to her later. During our expedition earlier in the week we also found what looked to be the carcass of some type of rodent, though we did not take this carcass away from the spot we found it. It was mostly bones and dirt, it was honestly barely identifiable, we’re lucky we did see the pattern of its ribcage before we walked away from the area though. We identified a leg bone and also what looked to be the crushed remains of its skull after that. It had obviously been there for a long time.
This sit-spot was sort of a departure from my usual bird and bug watching, but I enjoyed it, doing something a little different than what I often do during these sit spots.
Snake skins! You are a better friend then I would be. I really liked how you moved around to find something new to look at.
I really liked your pictures!
Your pictures are beautiful! That’s great that you found some neat things in your spot!
You’re lucky to have such variation within your sit spot! It was interesting to read about all the different things you were able to come across.
Hmm…it seems like a whole lot was going on while you were in your sit-spot – sounds of geese and hawks, decomposition, a brilliant blue sky with contrails and the moon….so much! I am glad you have also found treasures in your sit spot – snake skins and bones!