Shuvechchha Kunwar Sit Spot #1

18^th September 2020, 8:00 AM – 9:02 AM, Temp around 60’s

Finding my sit-spot has a lot of intuition involved. Since I would be spending a significant amount of time over the semester, I want this spot to be a place where I could sense the aura of tranquility. And luckily, I found my sit-spot just the way I want it to be. This spot is around 7 mins far from my apartment and it has very low human traffic. As the picture shows, my spot has some chairs and a table. It is in the middle of two different elevations of the land. They give me the vibe of a picnic spot. To my south, the elevation of land gets a little lower and it is filled with grasses and shrubs. A horizontal line of trees almost 100 ft. far from me hides a hill which is far away. To my north, the elevation of land gets slightly higher and it is also filled with grasses. On this side, the trees are around 150 ft. far from me. I can see a clear view of our beloved Tinker Mountain from there.

It was a little foggy around the Tinker Mountain when I arrived at the spot. As the sun rose higher, I got to see the fogs clearing up from the mountain. The sky was mostly covered with light clouds except to my south where I got to see some beautiful shades of a  blue sky. I witnessed the majestic view of grasses dancing along with the flow of crisp air. The color of the plants around me was green with very few yellow ones. I spotted a tree with no leaves at all on my south. I wonder if it was a seasonal change or due to a lack of enough nutrients. There were green grasses, shrubs, a yellow flowering plant, and many brown remains of dead plants on the ground.

I saw a cardinal that sat on a branch of the tree to my north for a minute and flew away. I saw a herd of small blackbirds in the sky. I did not spot any other birds or insects but, I heard different chirps. I was not able to identify any of them. I guess I will be able to identify them as I observe and learn more. There were no external disturbances except a car driving down the hill.

I found this sit-spot observation very therapeutic. I got to pause and notice the stories that nature tries to tell us. I witnessed more liveliness in the plants, the trees, and the sounds of birds and insects that I heard. I enjoyed being a little more aware of my surroundings and intend to use this ecological lens beyond my sit-spot.

I will keep track of the yellow flower to my south. It just started blooming and I am interested in seeing how this change in season will affect its growth. I picked the horizontal line of trees to my south to track the change in season through the change in color of their leaves. Fall will allow me to see beautiful variations of color of leaves. Similarly, I decided to follow the changing pattern of clouds and fog around the Tinker Mountain. It was really foggy when I got there. As the sun rose up, I got to see the fog clear up.