Date: 5 November 2008
Time: Various times through day (see in blog for specifics)
Location: Trips across the Skybridge
Weather: Overcast, high of 50, rain on and off
Post Election Exercise
The skybridge is one of those things that I have a love/hate relationship with. I love it not only because it keeps me safe from the busy 12th Street, but also because it provides me with a form of exercise. I hate it for that same, later reason. After timing my trips in one direction, I have estimated each trip across to be about 3 minutes in length. On this post election Wednesday, I have made 3 round trips, or 6 back and forth treks across the skybridge. This morning, westbound, I looked across to the park that is at the museum. I am pretty certain that I have spotted the reason as to why the Mill Stream’s flow has been minimized. There are small bulldozers that have moved large boulders onto the sides of the stream. The dirt on either bank has been disturbed and replaced by a green, I do not know, spray maybe?
Upon my return from this first trip, I am accompanied by Emma. Interrupting our conversation, a large black crow finds a perch on the beam at the top of the skybridge. It’s black feathers appear sort of glossy, but not shiny since there are not any very strong sun rays shining through the cloud cover. Inside the crow’s beak is his lunch, an enormous chunk of someone’s left over sandwich. Although it appears to me that the sandwich is a bit soggy, the crow does not care: he is just happy to have some nourishment. He did not stay in one spot for long though and I watched him fly to the east, over Mill Street.
The crow was my inspiration in documenting my trips across the skybridge for a day and so it made me take a closer look at things. There is not much life to be found here, and in fact, before I did this, I did not really think that there was any at all. The things closest to life found on the skybridge, I used to think, was the humans that walked across it every day and the fallen leaves that have not yet found their way to the ground. Upon closer inspection though, I have noticed small tufts of moss growing up from the sides. They are a vibrant green and do not grow tall, but are stronger in little balled up areas. Talk about an allusion to Wilson’s, “The Creation”.
Date: 6 November 2008
Time: 1730 Hours
Location: Smith, facing south side of the Quad
Weather: Warm wind, getting dark, misting rain
Shelter at Smith
I have waited to make my nature observation for today until after work. Upon getting ready for work, a glance out of my window would have suggested that it was rather cold outside because the wind was blowing the trees about so much. There was no rain though, and once I finally made it outside to go to work, I discovered that it was much warmer than I had thought it would be. Now though, I am off of work and there is a light mist spraying from the sky. In an effort to escape it, I have positioned myself underneath the roof of Smith on the porch that faces the south side of the Quad. It still is not very cold, and I do not feel the wind up on the porch where I am sitting. However, I do hear the wind. The trees that line the path on the north side of the quad all shake and their leaves rattle. Lining the same tree-lined path, lamps give off a soft, golden glow that seems to flicker as the tree branches pass back and forth in front of them. As I begin to pack up my stuff, I take in a deep breath. It really is very pleasant sitting under that roof at Smith; the world just seems to pass by.
Date: 7 November 2009
Time: 1245 Hours
Location: Begins in Olin, ends in Matthews
Weather: relatively warm out, overcast
Colloquium Sans Professor
This nature observation was inspired by the human nature that I found so interesting today. It is Friday and, for me at least, my last class of the day. Us students are all aware that there will be no professor in class today, but a majority of us are actually present. There are only two people who did not at least show up to the classroom at 12:40 and one of the two is out of town. I just found it so intriguing that, even though we all knew that the professor is gone, we all showed up to class. Anyway, so we are all sitting there and trying to decide what to do when Tory and Rose show up with a map in hand. The map consists of a rough outline of campus and there is a trail on it that we are to follow. The trail circles campus and passes some of the most note-worthy trees. The Star Trees are of course on it, as well as the large tree on the north side of Smullin Hall that has a bench underneath it; then the trail crosses the Mill Stream and hits the tree that is on the corner of Jackson Plaza and it ends up at a tree next to Goudy. With all intentions of following this map, those of us that are still present head outside. For the first few minutes though, we just sat on the cement barrier outside of the door. In the bushes next to Olin, a rather rotund squirrel hurried about. Thinking about it, a lot of the squirrels I have seen lately have been larger than normal and I suppose that that is probably because winter is coming soon. This guy should be well equipped.
When we all started moving again, we started talking about not following the map and we eventually ended up deciding that we should all watch Planet Earth, and that is what we did. As we walked east bound across the quad, I did my best to avoid the muddiest spots, but for the most part, the grass grew sparsely and did not do a great job of covering the dirt. Upon entering Matthews, we climbed 3 flights of stairs to get the movie and then went back down one flight to Rose’s room. Rainforests was our chosen episode and we all sat back in amazement as we watched the wonders of the tropical rainforest unfold before our eyes. Wouldn’t that be an amazing place to make some nature observations? ☺
Date: 8 November 2008
Time: 1725 Hours
Location: Martha Springer Botanical Gardens
Weather: Nearly dark but still warm, wet after rain
Writing in the Dark
So let me first just say that I was never aware until after this observation there was more to the Botanical Gardens than flowers in planters. I had never walked clear to the back of the gardens and it is on my to-do list to go back there during the day. This observation however, was made in the near dark. I was actually on my way to a different location, but when I passed the gardens, I looked up and saw the moon only vaguely disguised by clouds. A little below it in the sky were some large rain clouds that reflected the moonlight in the perfect spots. With the grassy path that led past the planters in the garden below this picturesque sky, I couldn’t help but stop here to make my observation. Besides, it could be sort of interesting. Things were hard to see with the sun setting, though I could still make them out a little bit. I found myself a spot on a planter that was not overflowing with life and I leaned in closer to the planter in front of me. Water drops on the leaves were reflecting the soft glow of the lamp that was a little ways away. In this planter was a flower, a yellow-orangish color according to the pictures on my camera. Its petals were narrow and almost an inch in length. The plant had many leaves and took up most of the planter, but I knew that this could not be the only plant in there because as I was leaning in closer I took in a deep breath. With this deep breath came the smell of peppermint: it was like a reminder of my childhood, playing in the front yard of our house in Boise and trying to see if the leaves of a peppermint plant tasted like a mint. In the east side of the planter grew a plant that was taller than the rest. It was very stemmy with leaves here and there that folded downward. At the top, it had bristles of what looked to be brown.
Date: 9 November 2009
Time: 1440 Hours
Location: Kaneko Sidewalk
Weather: Overcast, still fairly warm even though it just got done raining
Embarrassing Moments With A Slug
I do not know if I can handle many more of these nature observations. I mean, do not get me wrong, I enjoy doing them, but they are starting to take a toll on my social life. This is an account of one of those times, but it is not the only time something like this has happened. I do not know how many times I have stopped my friends while we are on our way somewhere by shouting, “Stop guys! I have to take a picture of this slug!” I guess it could be a way of trying to find out who my good friends are; those who wait for me while I complete this very important work are those that I should keep around. Anyway, for this observation, I am by myself. Once again, the rain has subsided for a little while, but I know that there is a very good likelihood of finding some sort of invertebrate on the sidewalk at this time. Alas, there is one. Upon seeing it, I notice that it is smaller than most of the ones that I have seen and I call out, “Little Slug!” I smile and kneel down next to it, just taking in some details of it. It is thin and just over an inch long. It is stretched out in an effort to make it across the sidewalk before becoming a meal. At the front of it, its antennae are slowly moving about. As I am kneeling down, I wonder what it might react to. Sound? Probably not. Can slugs see? I have no idea. I decided that I would see if it reacted to vibrations. With this decision, I begin to tap the ground next to it with my index finger. I then got the image of me right now from an outsiders point of view and knew how ridiculous I must look, but there was no one that I noticed around me. I continued to tap the ground and got no more reaction from the slug than a tip of its antennae in my direction. Not wanting to bug this slug (ha! It rhymes) anymore than I already have, I stand up and continue on my way, only to discover that I have not been by myself at all this entire time! One of the Willamette Watch guards had been sitting on a rock and I know that he must have seen the entire encounter. As I walk past I try not to laugh out loud to myself and he just looks away, trying to act like he had not just witnessed one of the most ridiculous things on his patrol.
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