During my 15 minutes of focus in my sit spot I noticed that my garden looked fuller and more luscious since the last time I was there. Right in front of me, I saw a bunch of orange flowers which I am pretty sure was not there the last time. The plants behind me seemed taller and thicker. For a second, I thought I was tripping because I couldn’t believe that such growth could happen in a matter of two weeks. There was a stronger breeze today which was extremely relaxing after being stuffed in my bedroom the entire day. A group of crows had started to make a lot of noise. However, this only lasted about a minute. It was a bummer that I could not see what the crows were making a fuss about because the tall bamboo bush blocked my view.

The most interesting part of my 15 minutes of focus was when I spotted a black caterpillar on the ground. It seemed to have a red head. The contrast between the two colors made the caterpillar look beautiful. It was moving across an empty patch on the grass. There were dry bamboo leaves all over the floor which served as obstacles in the tiny caterpillar’s path. As it was trying to cross the third bamboo leaf, it flipped over and for a few seconds stayed still. I found this pretty assuming. Maybe it found the fall astonishing. Or could it be that it was pretending to be dead? This behavior was really interesting to me. Perhaps it thought that predators were around and so, made no movements to avoid attracting the predators? Could it be some kind of defense mechanism? These were the questions that filled my brain.

When I closed my eyes, my auditory senses were elevated. Even though, I was frequently disturbed by vehicle noises, I had a wonderful time listening to nature. I heard a lot of birds chirping. Throughout this time, I thought about how it is so important to appreciate nature. I was glad that I had this as my assignment as it really motivates me to spend more time outdoors, which I haven’t been doing as much these days.

 

The first picture shows a beautiful fern plant. It belongs to the genus Nephrolepis which consists of about 30 species of ferns. I think the one I have in my garden belongs to the Nephrolepis cordifolia species. An interesting fact I learned about this plant was that it has become an invasive species in some areas it had been introduced. One thing I noticed during my time in the sit spot was that I saw a lot more of this fern. Is it spreading in my garden in an invasive manner too? I am looking forward to making this observation.  The second picture consists of a plant which belongs to the species Sedum morganianum. It is also known as donkey tail. I found out that the donkey tail can produce trailing stems up to 24 inches long. I hope I see a difference in length in my following sit spot experiences.  I think the flower in my third picture belongs to the Canna coccinea species. Apparently, this species is also invasive in some areas.

Overall, I had such a peaceful and relaxing experience in my sit spot. My favorite part was the auditory tuning. It helped me concentrate a lot more on the sounds in my surrounding and relaxed my mental and physical state.