Sit Spot Blog #5

October 31, 2020

I could hear my sit-spot before I entered it. The sound of the stream. Thanks to yesterday’s rainfall (or was it the day before yesterday), the stream was full with water, making the currents stronger. There were bubbles dotting the stream and the current was more pronounced in normally still areas of the stream. The riffle area was even more pronounced. I could make out the indentations of three rocks that formed the “white water” area. It was not true white water, but close to it.Along the western bank of the stream, the trees were all bent and jagged in different directions, probably due to wind from yesterday. It was hard to tell from which direction the wind had blown as the trees were crooked and pointed in different directions. The yellowing plants along my side of the bank (the eastern side) were all bent toward the South, a more pronounced indicator of the direction the wind had been blowing. The forest floor was still littered with brown leaves, most of them the large ones from the Sycamore, one of the only trees that still had some leaves on its branches. They had all reached, or were approaching, the dull brown that marked the end of a leaf’s life. My most interesting discovery was shells! I found them about 12 feet away from the stream right next to my blanket. It was quite the fascinating discovery to find shells, hallmarks of beaches, in the middle of greenery. I am curious to know how such shells came to reside on the forest floor. Perhaps, the rain washed away layers of soil to reveal the presence of shells that had accumulated through sedimentation. Or maybe the stream had overflowed causing shells and other detritus from the stream to be deposited on the banks, though I don’t think it rained enough to cause such a flood.

The yellow flowers are still gone. The grass-like debris that had been left there appears the be more brown and less plentiful. Interestingly enough, the tree that had appeared to be dying, the white pine, has shown more shoots growing from its trunk than there had been on my previous visit. I found it curious that these potential branches were growing pretty low on the trunk compared to where existing branches were located. Although the holes in the tree seemed to not have grown in surface area, they appeared to have deepen, though of course, this could be an illusion of my eyes. This tree is very interesting in the mixed signals it seems to be sending. On one hand, the holes suggest decay, whereas the growing of new branches suggests life.

The final object of observation, the possible hickory tree remains very similar to how I left it last week. The vine appears to be doing well; I found more on the back of the tree, the side facing away from me toward the East, however, I might have failed to notice it in my previous visits and it could have been here this whole time. Moss seems to be growing on the branches. There was a crack in one of the branches and another was bent at a 90-degree angle; most likely, from the wind that seemed to have ravaged the entire area.

The clouds appeared to be moving north-east. They were white and more on the shapeless side. Instead of the defined fluffy forms, they appeared to resemble misty blobs of white smeared across the sky, like cotton balls that were spread out and smeared across the sky. There was definitely more cloud than sky. Earlier this morning on my way to my sit spot, the sky appeared to be completely covered in a cloud-like haze. Almost as if someone swished around the sky and the cloud around the create this mixture resembling a cloudy quilt. It’s hard to describe how the clouds seemed to be lacking shape and were free blobs in the sky but were also clumped up and the entire sky had a blurry feel to it. Now, there was less of the blur and haze. There was no wind. It was interesting how only the clouds above me appeared to be moving, those further out seemed to be stationary. I am pretty sure they were Cumulus clouds. The clouds did not seem to exhibit any active growth; they appeared to be very light and fluffy without much depth which could be a sign of dissipation. They seemed to be at a low altitude, since they hung lower in the sky and felt closer to the ground. They could also be Altocumulus clouds since the clumpy pattern is similar to the clouds I saw in the sky today. However, my clouds seemed to be closer and larger than typical Altocumulus clouds. The small bodies of clouds are not as pronounced like Altocumulus clouds.

I found it interesting that while laying down and closing my eyes to listen to the surrounding environment, I couldn’t hear certain sounds of the stream, whereas when I was sitting up, I heard those sounds I had missed. Laying down, the stream sounded like bubbles, as if there was a bunch of marbles or other balls rolling in the stream or the sound of the thing containing chlorine that bobs around in the pool. However, when I sat up, I could hear the sound of the current which sounded like heavy and pronounced trickling. I heard a noise that was pretty faint and could be a bird call. It sounded like someone playing the piano, except that the keys didn’t play their respective notes, just the sound of the physical keys being pressed down. I heard bird calls that sounded like a siren and another that was a higher in pitch and frequency. The rustling noise of the leaves did make startle me, but it was just the leaves in the branches of the Sycamore wiggling together. I also heard two cars drive by.

Now that many of the trees have lost their foliage, my sit spot area feels less secluded. I feel more open and exposed without the leaves and vegetation covering me. The spot itself also feels barer following the loss of leaves and flowers. However, I do really enjoy laying there on my blanket staring up at the sky. It’s something I feel I could do for hours. Although my view of the sky is more trimmed thanks to the branches of the surrounding trees, it feels like my slice of the sky. It’s harder to be completely at peace since I feel more exposed and scuffling noises do raise my head. Starting my day at my sit spot, enveloped in nature, also makes me feel better about myself and my day.