Time Entered: 5:07 p.m.
Time Left: 6:37 p.m.
Upon entering my little hideaway from the modern world and its technological companions, I could immediately start to feel a sense of ease. Today, in my sit spot, was like a whole different place. The animals and insects were all out and about the place. I saw a cluster of bugs zooming and soaring through the air. This massive swarm consisted of mainly gnats and mosquitos. There was a ray of sunshine perfectly casted in the middle of my sit spot. This beam of light sliced perfect through the middle of the field of grass and it revealed the cluster of bugs. The light showed all of the gnats dancing through the air.
Directly behind me or to the SE direction of my sit spot, there were two squirrels playing within the trees. They were ruining and hopping through the branches and chasing each other as if they were playing on a jungle gym. The doe eyed and bushed tailed squirrels were not the only animals chasing and playing in my hideaway. There were also a large variety of birds going about the area. They were humming and singing a symphony of tunes all around me.
As for an update on my three objects that I am following: the massive and possible Sweetgum tree, the yellow shrub, and the orange/yellow colored bush. The tree at first glance doesn’t seem to be all that different because the basic structure and coloring is all the same as it was before. Once I started to tune in and look at it more closely, I saw that there were a couple slight differences. Leaves had begun to fall of the tree, most likely due to fall, and there was also a difference in the brush that surrounds the base part of the tree. The grass like bush had begun to look dehydrated/wilted. The structure of the it had become slouched.
The yellow budded shrub most likely had the biggest difference between my last blog and now. The only similarities it had to the first blog were color and structure. The color of the leaves had remained green and the structure of the actual shrub hadn’t changed much. The difference with the shrub was that the yellow buds were no longer there. It was just a green shrub and no longer had any pop of color to it.
The bush looked like it lost some of its leaves as well as the color slightly changed. Instead of an orange/yellow color, it was more of a fiery red color. The leaves were changing colors due to the seasons changing, but the difference in only two weeks was extremely interesting to notice. This change was by far my favorite one of all of the objects I followed up on.
There is a stream in my sit spot that’s located in the NW direction. The stream was significantly slower today and was slightly lower in level. This stream is home to various species of bugs and it also provides drinking water for the animals that have a residence near it. The stream provides a home, water, and nutrients (to an extent). The stream, while it looks somewhat insignificant, provides a vital source of commodities for the ecosystems around it.
The invertebrate I chose to follow was an ant. I noticed him on the bridge that is located in my sit spot. The little ant was scurrying across the bridge with a tiny piece of white rice. He traveled across almost the whole bridge when tragedy stroke. He DROPPED the piece of rice. It dropped it into the stream and the ant stopped for a few moments. I can only assume he was extremely disappointed. He finally started moving down one of poles of the bridge and disappeared into the grassy area that surrounded the bridge.
This time in my sit spot was an amazing experience. Recently classes have begun to really crack down on projects and homework, and this assignment was actually a break away from the stresses of classes and college in general. It was refreshing to slow down and tun into nature! Overall, I learned that there is so much going on underneath the surface outside. I can’t wait for the next sit spot day!
Nice blog Rachel – i enjoyed your pictures and descriptions