Date: 22 October 2008
Time: 1400 Hours
Location: North bound on I-5
Weather: Beautiful day, sunny, few clouds
The Naturalist’s Most Hated Nature Observation
I am sorry to say that I am in my car for this nature observation. It is an absolutely gorgeous day October day and I just have no time today to make any observations. I decided to make one in motion and today is the perfect day for it. The fall foliage is brilliant. The orange and green leaves of the trees contrast each other and blur together as I pass by. On my left, the blackberry bushes that grow in the median are turning brown as the days get shorter. The inspiration for making the passing scenery into a nature observation though lies in the northeastern corner of my eye. It is the majestic Mount Hood, a beautiful peak that can be seen from all directions on the clearest of days. As my car cruises along, I look to my right over at the mountain. It stands tall behind the farmer’s fields. The next thing I know, my view is blocked by the fall foliage and I look back in front of me, straight ahead. At the next clearing, I look again and take in more details about Mount Hood. With so much atmospheric particles in the air between the mountain and I, it has a bluish tint to it where there would otherwise be green trees. In every area where there is no blue, there is white, where snow lies. I sit back and wonder what sorts of animals might be at home on the mountain, and then make my exit off of the interstate.
Date: 24 October 2008
Time: 1500 Hours
Location: Bench on south side of the fountain in Wilson Park
Weather: Sunny, great temperature close to 50
Squirrely Behavior
Once again, it is a gorgeous day outside and so I have decided to spend my time on Friday afternoon on a walk around a few blocks. I had no destination in mind: I decided to just see where I ended up. In crossing the street to the block that the capitol building is on, I figured that I should take some time in Wilson Park and jot down some notes on my iPod for a nature observation. As I walk up the sidewalk, there are kids playing in the gazebo, which is where I would have liked to have sat. Instead though, I find a bench that is in the shade and on the south side of the fountain that spews water in the middle of the park. To my right, the ring of flags circles a patch of grass and on this round lawn, a squirrel moves about. Something about seeing the squirrels around town just puts me in a good mood. I am pretty sure that it is in the way that they run. It is not really running, but more of a leaping. This squirrel, I shall call him Mervin, is looking for a nut buried somewhere in the lawn. I first spot him sitting still. He then begins to dig hurriedly into the grass and, unsatisfied, leaves this spot for a different one. Mervin chooses a spot only a few feet away. His body arcs as he leaps across the lawn, his bushy tail following uniformly. A repeat of what happened at the previous spot occurs here too. He is unsuccessful and continues on. Looking away, I wonder if there are any nuts in that lawn, and if there really are any, how long it will take Mervin to locate one.
Date: 24 October 2008
Time: 2030 Hours
Location: Monmouth, Oregon, Western Oregon University campus
Weather: extremely cold, clear skies with stars overhead in the night sky
A Stroll down an Unfamiliar Street
I have just had one of the most fun days of my time here in Oregon so far, and now I am freezing. Why did I decide to leave my jacket in my closet in my room? Oh well. It is too late for that now and I am relying on my scarf for warmth. The person that I am walking with is named Patrick and he is a freshman at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, a town that I am not sure would have much more to offer during the day than it does at night. It reminds me a lot of home actually, driving through with the small, old-fashioned storefronts. Anyway, we are walking along a road now that is lined with trees and different halls from the schools. In the night, street lamps illuminate the path and the light emitted from each lamp bathes the trees with a golden glow. As we walk along, fallen leaves crunch underneath our feet. Patrick stops me and points to a huge tree and notes that it is the “famous campus tree”. I recognize it as a Giant Sequoia, the same kind as the Star Trees are. He also says that for Christmas, this particular tree is lit up and can be seen from Salem. I will have to keep it in mind and look for it! There are not many other people out, but a group of people does pass by us, laughing loudly and disturbing the otherwise quiet stroll. After they had passed, we cross the street and continue northbound, on our way back to the warmth of a dorm room.
Date: 25 October 2008
Time: 1140 Hours
Location: McMinnville, Oregon, sidewalk on Linfield College campus
Weather: Have I said other days this week were perfect? THIS is the perfect day ☺ Blue skies, close to 50 degrees?
Perfect Weather for Football
It is also the perfect weather for nature observations. I am here in McMinnville to support our Willamette Bearcats at their rivalry football game against the Linfield Wildcats. From what I have heard, it is supposed to be a heated rivalry, but the people that we are tailgating with are wearing Linfield sweatshirts and so I suppose that it is not too intense. Anyway, I am sitting here on the sidewalk, just trying to take in my surroundings. The campus of Linfield really is very pretty. Driving into the stadium, there are sprawling lawns, much like a park. The trees on campus are showering their leaves and the gold is both in the branches as well as on the ground at the base of the tree trunks. Back to my closer surroundings though, I get the feeling that this campus is much more, I don’t know, manufactured than Willamette. At Willamette, plants seem much more natural. As I am circling around in my spot to get a different point of view, my eyes shift to the ground beneath me, onto the sidewalk. Right in front of me is a caterpillar! How great is this? It is rather large too, probably 2 inches in length and about a centimeter wide. It looks as though it is in a bit of a hurry as it crawls directly across the sidewalk in search of a cover. Its body has two colors that are in three different sections. At the front (or the part in front of the direction that it is moving, I cannot tell if it is its head), it is black. This black is followed by a burnt orange color, which is then followed again by black. Its body looks furry and wiggles slightly from side to side as it moves along the cement. In researching this caterpillar to figure out what breed it is, I came to find that it is a Woolly Bear Caterpillar and I found out some interesting history on it. I even read something that I think explains why it was crossing the sidewalk and that is that it was in search of a place to spend the cold winter—in a cavity of a rock or some tree bark. It is apparently found all across the country because the site that I read about it on tells the story of a man in New York who collected several each year. He would count the number of brown bands and average the lengths of each band. Depending on this average, he would declare what he thought the intensity of the winter would be. Though he later figured out that it would not really work, he still used that as an excuse to escape into the fall atmosphere around him.
Date: 26 October 2008
Time: 1650 Hours
Location: Kaneko Community Garden
Weather: Slight breeze, sunny, nice weather
Garden Update
One of my first ever observations was made at the Kaneko Community Garden and so I have decided to make my way back down here for my final nature observation of the week. I could not count how many times I walk past this garden each week on my way to and from classes, dinner, and various other events, but I never really make much note of how the garden is doing. Upon coming down here, the first thing I notice is how much everything has grown since it was first planted. The volunteers keeping this garden alive have done a great job because the leaves on most of the larger underground plants have grown to, I would say, the size of my face. The lettuce must have been successful because it has already been harvested. I wonder what it was used for? Did I eat it in Goudy for my salad one night? Interesting thought. Anyway, the beet plant’s stems are more blood red than ever as well and I wonder how you are supposed to tell when those plants are ready to be harvested.
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