Even just walking up to my sit-spot this time around, I noticed that it had changed so much. There were obviously environmental changes, like changing/falling leaves and some plants (like the jewelweed I had noted last time) losing flowers, but also some major man-made differences. The white bench I usually sit on had been switched out for a green lawn chair, there was now a sculpture in the garden, and many of the shrubs and flowers I had seen last time had been removed- including one of the plants I was watching as one of my three things to look out for in the space. Noticing all of these differences made it a little harder for me to tune in, because it was hard not to get caught up in the “what’s missing?” or “was that here last time?” of it all, and instead focus on what was actively happening. But in my fifteen minutes of focused time, I noticed that the stream was more shallow and had reduced flow, in addition to more grass and algae growing within it. There were more bugs this time than I remember, I had a number of flies land on me or my sit-spot journal, and the number of no-see-ems seemed to be a lot higher. The bugs actually on the surface of the stream seemed about the same, but I only saw one blue dragonfly, where I had seen a lot more last time. It seems like the stream kind of supports and regulates (to some degree) life for the bugs- since that was a major constant despite the changing season.

While there were plenty of bugs I could have chosen from, I decided to observe an ant that I found on the arm of the lawn chair, just because I really like them. He really didn’t do much but be brown, move along the edges of the arm chair, stop and feel around, stand up on his back legs and feel around, and walk in wonky circles. The most exciting thing he did was walk off the side of the chair arm (!!!), part of the way down the chair (gasp), and then very quickly, run all the way back up. I know I sound pretty snarky about it, but in the moment, it was actually riveting because, to my monkey brain, that logged it in all caps, it was confirmation that he wasn’t stuck up there.

I ended my time at my sit spot by reflecting on and taking pictures of the remaining things I wanted to monitor: the jewelweed and the turkey tail mushroom. The jewelweed has lost all of its flowers (and in the time I was there, it seems like bees, too), but it’s still pretty green and lush. The turkey tail mushroom on the other hand, is on its way out. It’s covered in straw, and it looks like it’s decaying and falling to pieces.