10/30/08

Date: 10/30/08
Location: Baxter Hall
Time: 0940 hours
Weather: Cool

I have just walked in from my first class today and have come to discover that my pumpkin that I carved smells awful. It's an irritating smell that is very musky and dank. My pumpkin, I'm sad to say, has begun to mold the day before halloween. I can't say that I enjoy this one bit. I don't want to carry Schnicklefritz(said pumpkin) down to the trash can because he smells so awful, but I don't want to keep him by my room because he smells so awful! The mold is white and black and is growing on the inside wall of him. The rind on the outside where the mold is on the inside is very soft and leaky. How gross is that?! I fear that my only option is to take him down and bury him deep in the trash can. Goodbye sweet Schnicklefritz!

10/28/08

Date: 10/28/08
Location: Between Collins and Doney
Time: 1230 hours
Weather: Sunny and cool

I was walking to class and took notice of the leaves. They are changing ever so beautifully! I'm always excited for fall because of the leaves. They make everything so absolutely beautiful! I can't wait for them to dry out. I want to make a giant pile and jump in them like back home! I wonder though. Will this weather allow for leaf jumping? Well it get dry enough for me to be able to scoop the leaves up and do as I wish with them? Maybe not. But I'd still like to think about all the fun I could have.

10/27/08

Date: 10/27/08
Location: Park down the Mill Stream from Campus
Time: 1300 hours
Weather: sunny and brisk, cool air

My class and I have walked over to a park that's way down the path along the mill stream and I'm about six feet in the air sitting in a tree. From where I am I can see three different types of moss on this tree. One is light blue and scaly, one is a little more teal and bush like, and the thrid is dark green and looks almost like cedar branches. As I observe, this tree becomes more and more like an ecosystem in my mind. I'm sure that somewhere inside this tree, there are bugs that have made homes for themselves. This tree provides shelter for some animals, a resting place for birds, and food for others. As we're heading towards the winter months, the leaves already litter the ground. The ones on the tree don't look healthy at all and there's very few of them. The branches look thin and as I sit here, the leaves fall. What a sad time to be a tree.

Spiders everywhere!!

H.Waller
Date: 2 November, 2008
Time: 1950 pm
Weather: currently 48 degrees and drizzly
Location: All over Salem.

In Montana, we have our fair share of spiders that come out during the summer and occasionally terrorize me by setting up camp in the bathtub or on the ceiling above my bed, but since coming to Oregon, I have seen countless spiders everywhere I go, rain or shine. As my friend was driving and about to turn out of the Sparks parking lot, she screamed as she noticed a little spider the size of my thumbnail hanging in front of her driver's side window from the roof of the car. Quickly she rolled the window down and had someone hit the spider with a shirt to shew him out of the window. The little guy has thin, light brownish grey legs and a flat body. How the Oregonian spiders manage to get into every nook and cranny in ways the Montanan spiders do is a mystery.

J.Martin Service Project

Time: 1500-1515

Date: 2 November 2008

Climate: Cold, wet, gray skies, slightly raining

Location: Deep Woods on the far side of Bush Park

After removing more blackberry bushes than I thought was possible, I decided to do another observation of the area we were working in.  It poured for a little bit while we were working, leaving us soaking wet for the next few hours of work.  I have a whole new perspective of invasive species.  Trying to pull the roots out of the ground took so much effort for every individual branch.  Sometimes I would pull so hard that I almost fell backwards when I uprooted the plant.  I have scratches all over my arms and legs from this but when I look at the area we worked on, it looks wonderful.  We got rid of so much in 5 hours of work.  Clearing out the Ivy was nearly impossible without clearing out the Blackberry Bushes first.  Some of the blackberry bushes were over about a centimeter and a half in diameter at the bottom.  They were huge and sometimes took multiple people and shovels to uproot them.  The rain also made it more difficult because out gloves became soaking wet and muddy.  It was strenuous work but looking at the area we cleared we definitely made a difference.  

J.Martin Deep Woods

Time: 0955-1010

Date: 2 November 2008

Climate: Chilly, windy, grey skies

Location: Deep Woods in Bush Park

I went to Deep Woods today for an Environmental Science service-learning project.  Our job was to remove ivy and Blackberry bushes from the area because the invasive species are taking over.  Before we began removing ivy and blackberry bushes I noticed a few things that I found interesting.  The first was a tree that was open and was missing the whole inside.  This was not the only thing interesting about this tree.  Where the bark was missing, it was a blood red color underneath.  This was so weird, and it looked almost like the tree was bleeding.  The next thing I saw were snowberries.  They are little white berries that are very cute.  But I am unsure of whether or not they are edible.  Looking around, the invasive species are completely taking over.  They spread for hundreds of feet wherever other plants are not, or where they are they just take over them.  It is now time to begin the project.  

J.Martin oct 31st

Time: 2307-2325

Date: 31 October 2008

Climate: low 50’s, does not feel very cold, rather warm for a late night

Location: The Mill Stream again in front of the University Center

As I am walking towards the University Center from Doney Hall, I walk over the bridge next to Goudy Commons and I notice a large number of ducks to my left.  They look almost like rocks, which is what I thought they were before noticing they were in fact ducks.  I counted over 20 and then could not keep track anymore.  They were just sitting there, most likely sleeping.  They were all together in a big clump except for a few by themselves off to the sides.  There looked to be about an equal amount of males and females.  I was surprised earlier to see no ducks but now I am seeing how many are there and it makes sense because I usually see ducks sleeping in lower level water.  It is surprising to me how many there are though.  Usually at night there are about 5 or 10 but tonight there are so many.  I do believe that it is in part due to the water level.  A friend and I decided to walk in the low water and the gravel on the bottom sunk very quickly.  My feet and legs were covered in muddy, mucky, water.  

J.Martin oct 31st

Time: 1350-1410

Date: 31 October 2008

Climate: rain off and on, chilly, gray skies

Location: Entire Mill Stream, mostly by the University Center

So today I was very shocked by the water level of the Mill Stream.  It is almost empty all the way to the bottom.  I do not understand how this is possible because it rained so much last night.  It is so low that in some spots, there is no water at all and the rocks under it have surfaced.  I am surprised to see no ducks in the Mill Stream right now because it is shallow and I usually see ducks in the shallow areas of the Mill Stream.  Today is not very pretty outside; well I don’t think it is.  When I walked out the back door of my dorm, all I saw were leaves.  Leaves were covering the ground but not just a thin layer.  A thick layer of leaves covered the ground from the trees above.  It was weird to walk on because it was almost bouncy.  

J.Martin oct 27th

Time: 1305-1330

Date: 27 October 2008

Climate: warm, sunny, clear blue skies

Location: following the Mill Stream from campus to the corner of Liberty and Trade St.

I am sitting facing a waterfall with my feet dangling over the edge.  I see 5 places where water is dumping into the area.  I am not sure where it is all coming from or where all of this water is going.  There is a layer on top of the water of leaves, pines, pinecones, sticks, and some trash. There is a busy road next to me on the right and loud vehicles are passing by.  I cannot hear a lot of them though because the waterfalls are so noisy.  I see a ladder and a ramp type thing on a wall across from me.  They seem like odd things to be there.   There are 3 male mallards swimming around going back and forth on the water.  Two have now flown up onto the sidewalk.  They are just standing there looking around.  The one duck is trying to fly but cannot seem to make it up onto the sidewalk.  After trying multiple times and failing, he finally resorts to walking up a ramp on the side of the wall to get to the other ducks. This was so funny to watch because you could tell the duck that couldn’t fly was getting so frustrated.  

01 November 2008: Low Water Level

Rose Dickson

01 November 2008

1223 – 1230 hours

Bridge over the Mill Stream, near the library on Willamette University campus, Salem, OR, USA

57 degrees, overcast

            Looking out onto the Mill Stream I notice a strange difference. The water level is significantly lower than normal. The plants and rocks inhabiting the stream are now extremely more prominent due to the lack of cover. I begin to wonder what could be the cause of this lower level and I am perplexed as I reflect on the large amounts of rainfall we have had this week. Is the Mill Stream really regulated by society, or is the water lower for another reason? The Mill Stream’s ebbs and flows clearly usually reflect the change in season, but even as we see a clear shift to winter the Mill Stream is low. Why doesn’t this normal principle of the natural world apply to the Mill Stream? Is it because the Mill Stream was created by man? The Mill Stream defies normal expectations because it was created under abnormal circumstances. This should indicate a clear and ever-present fact of the natural world: that man cannot replicate the beauties of nature.

Leo Castillo
1 November 2008
Location Maultnomah Falls
Climate: 55
As we are heading back from Walla Walla, the bus passes I realized that I needed to take out my notebook and make an observation. This type of observation is a visual of what I can remember from the last time I was at Multnomah falls. As you get near to the fall it tends to get colder and colder. There is a highly expensive shop underneath the fall underneath the fall. The wind that gets accumulated in the fall and mass of sprinkled water spreads through out the bridge underneath it. The bridge never goes over to the other side of the fall if I can recall right. Behind the waterfall there is a cave hat anyone can go and explore if it’s still available to the public.

Tyler Starr: 11/02 pm, Squirrel Carcass Update

Tyler Starr

2 November 2008 from 1600-1615

Location: The northwest corner of campus, along the art building

Weather: Off and on showers, no wind, 54 ̊ F

General: I went over to see how the squirrel carcass was doing from a couple of weeks back. On the way over there, I noticed the patch of mushrooms that I had observed before. There are even more of them now, and in several places they grow in very dense clusters, resembling the downtown of a city with skyscrapers (see picture). Once I got over to near the squirrel carcass, I noticed that the ground and sidewalk are far more covered with leaves than the rest of campus. Perhaps the groundskeepers don’t spend as much time over here since it is very rarely traveled. I walked back toward the kiln where the squirrel carcass has been decomposing. When I last saw it, it was just a skeleton with a furry tail. Today, there were far fewer remains. One leg bone was in its original location. A few feet off was another bone, and what may have been the jaw and skull was a couple of feet past that, although its shape was different than before. There was no longer a furry tail, but instead there was what looked like a long bone with tufts of haggard, black hairs. It seems like nature has made off with all that it could from this squirrel carcass.

Leo Castillo
31 October 2008
Location: Walla Walla WA
Climate 65
Heading over to Walla Walla as I look out my window I can see the dry dirt land that surrounds this area. It seems to be vary dry and not much happening around here. There is a golf course that we are headed towards and plan on seeing what it has to offer. As we step on the these golf course there is plenty of leafs every where through out the place and it seem to me that the wind flows very hard. There are leafs everywhere in the filed and it’s seems to be rolling and up and down area. After noticing that there are areas being cut in less then the rest. Going back to the hotel we stayed in there was only one tree on front law but by now it seem to have been removed and no longer there. There is harley any green to be seen in this part of Walla Walla.

Leo Castillo
28 October 2008
Location: Outside my Door.
Climate: 60
Since Halloween is coming up I decided to make my observation on the pumpkins that where put out side my door. There are many sizes and types of pumpkins and today we will stay with the original. This was just like any other pumpkin with its yellow/orange color and with about 25-50 side section on the outside of it. It has a little top that seems to still be green and will probably fade in the next days. Most of the outside of the pumpkins outer side is vary smooth and bump free. The inside of this pumpkin are more like the guts and seed. That’s about it as far as pumpkins goes there is not much to them. When Halloween roles around the carving that is out in to make scary faces. You can make it look ugly or nice. Then after you clean the insides of the pumpkins you apply the candle and light the face. Most people put the pumpkins outside by there door and light it to scary the kids when the come for candy.

Leo Castillo
27 October 2008
Location: Along the Mill Stream.
Climate: 57
Today for class we as a class set out to take opportunity and make some observations. We headed out and crossed the street over Winter St. Then saw the miniature dam and how it had a little drop and drops. This is another part of the Mill Stream and I continue and we continue our path towards the drop off. As we cross the lights, we end up in a park that has a pond in the middle. In this pond there are many ducks and people admiring the nice day outside. I continue to wonder and end up in a restaurant with a drop of the Millstream and multiple water falls with leaves everywhere. I keep on going and find the end of the Mill stream and it ends up in a river that goes into a dark shady area. The end of the stream to me seems it run’s down hill. The difference between the water running down the river which then goes in to the Willamette River is that is has natural leafs. Later I find out that past that shady area there is the Riverfront park and where we did our first observation for class.

Collin's Observations Week 8

C.Jones
27 October 2008
Millstream
1303

I am sitting on a rocky bank by a large pool of glistening murky water. There are ducks in the middle and multiple ones on either side. I am watching one duck, its entire body underwater now. There are leafy trees above me, but they are so spaced that they are not providing much shade. The ducks are drifting close to me now, the colors of green and white look great on the proud mallards. I hear a consistent series of crow calls going overhead. It is very sunny and warm outside. The rocks by the stream, however, remain cool to the touch. I see a lone yellow leaf floating silently down the stream. The ducks are still relaxing in the pool of water. The sun continues to heat the area around the stream.

http://www.natures-desktop.com/images/Wallpaper/Fullsize1280/Bird-wallpaper/Mallard-Duck-Female.jpg

C.Jones
27 October 2008
Outside Eaton Hall
1421

It is sunny but cold outside. I hear birds chirping nearby. Leaves in multitudes of shades litter the ground. There is a stick that looks like it's from a nearby tree. I notice some plants with interesting colors on the tips of their leaves. I see a very overgrown tree and I think I hear chirping coming from within it. I notice a rock in the grass that seems out of place. The two trees above me have interesting plant like cones growing on them. I am now convinced that the chirping is coming from around that tree. I notice a bee hovering off the ground. Maybe it's searching for food. The sun continues to glisten off the plants. The trees don't move in the light wind. The bees continue to scavenge. The leaves reflect the sunlight.

C.Jones
29 October 2008
Outside Shepard
1548

It is very chilly outside and the air is cold to the point where you can almost see your breath. A few leaves drop from a tree to my right and I hear a crow call from my left. The dirt looks moist and there are a lot of ants on the concrete today. I am convinced their colony is close by. The leaves are shaded a deep green with some of them shaded red and yellow, fall colors. I notice a pile of these colored leaves to my right under a tree that I don't think they came from. The wind is low today, but just enough to amplify the cold air. I hear a bird call nearby. I see the top of a tall tree rock back and forth. I see leafy bushes lining the trees.

C.Jones
1 November 2008
Munson Creek Falls
1341

I'm looking at a waterfall hundreds of feet high trickling down into the vegetation below. The trees around me have moss clinging to their thin frames making them look like a house cleaning product. It is lightly raining and yellow leaves litter the ground. The moist rocky dirt adds a jungle like feeling to the place. Sticks of all sizes and shapes form tangled masses on the wet ground. The lush green plants are amazing. It makes this place seem so isolated. Overturned muddy logs are a tribute to the lush surroundings. The air smells like pine trees and the trees are very thick. I see a bug floating over a sunken log and notice the falls trickle all the way down into a stream near the base of the hill. There are also many green leaves scattered in this tranquil setting. Ther forest here is very green and lush.

gallery.photo.net/photo/6370651-lg.jpg

C.Jones
1 November 2008
Oregon Coastline
1458

There is an incredible view of the waves smashing against the rocks and swelling in the misty ocean. Pine and spruce trees are all around and the sun sparkles off the waves. The coastline is very green and the brush on its side is very thick. There are two huge rocks out in the distance, sitting there in the giant swells of the ocean, they resemble the shells of turtles. I can hear bird calls drift out over the coastline and I had recently witnessed two birds hovering in the air above the crashing waves. There is a thick underbrush surrounding me as I hear the sharp fast calls of several birds behind me doing cartwheels in the windy air. The strong wind is brushing all the tops of the many trees and making them waver like the water hundreds of feet below them. I notice many pine trees to my right just covering the coastline.

http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050826/050826_waveenergy_hmed_11a.hmedium.jpg

H.Waller
Date: 30 October, 2008
Time: 1600
Weather: Overcast, 60 degrees
Location: Pringle Park

Today a friend asked if I wanted to go on a walk, and I thought that would make a very nice break from all the homework, so I agreed. As we began walking, I realized we were heading toward Pringle Park, so I recommended that we make a stop there and observe nature. I observed one plant in particular that was growing down in the cracks of the rocks that line the bank. It grows like a weed might, and covers a large area of ground, making it look invasive. This plant is green and purple and has oblong shaped leaves attatched to thin wirey vines. The vines look almost spongy in a way, and like they might be hollow inside like long pieces of thin tubing. The thing about this weed looking plant, is that it doesn't detract from the aesthetics of its surroundings like many weeds do.

H.Waller
Date: 1 November, 2008
Time: 2200
Weather: mixed!
Location: The Quad

I joined an intramural football team recently. This is a bit of a problem seeing as I have no experience playing football and while I enjoy going to the games I must admit that 90% of the time I don't know what is going on, so I just cheer when the crowd does. That said, it was crucial that we practice yesterday, even though when we went out it was a chilly 53 degrees and raining pretty consistantly. We toughed it out however, and played through the rain. Then suddenly, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and a perfectly warm fall day was exposed. Why does the weather suddenly shift like that? It happened again a few minutes ago as I was in my friend's room where the sound of the rain is magnified greatly. It began to pound on the windows so loudly that we had to raise our voices. It kept on like this for a good 5 minutes, and then just as suddenly as the rain came, it was dead quiet.
Photo courtesy of Google Images.

27 October 2008
1509
The Adirondack chair below the maple, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Finally the leaves have started to change colors and it is beautiful. The tree I am sitting underneath has the most beautiful autumn colors I have ever seen. The leaves make the tree look as though it is burning, though the bright lime green leaves give the tree a bright twist of color. Besides the lime green, other leaves have a bright orange pigmentation the blends smoothly into yellow as it nears the stem. As you look higher up the leaves fad from the bright yellows and greens to more traditional autumn colors like deep rich reds, these are the leaves that are making the tree look as though it is burning. The colors are so vibrant amidst the other trees. The other vegetation surrounding this tree is still green, fighting against the autumn chill. Other trees have started to change as well though the vegetation surrounding this tree has only faded lightly from green to brown, nothing too exciting. The leaves frost the ground with color and they leave imprints on the sidewalk once the rain has pressed them down. Every now and then a leaf or two will fall into the mill stream and be sent on its way, being tugged on by the current towards the center of campus.

28 October 2008
1725
The Mill Stream Bridge, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Today we made leaf boats! For a couple hours my friends Laurel, Devon and I were doing our homework in the library, but the weather looked so enticing outside that we had to leave. We went to the bistro, grabbed some coffee and then headed out to the quad to sit in the last bit of sunshine before the sun set. As we were sitting there leaves kept falling off of the trees, great big leathery leaves, squashy green leaves, and crunchy, curled up brown leaves. We sat for a while admiring the beautiful weather, just laughing and talking. After a little bit another one of our friends came up and sat down next to us. She asked if we had ever made leaf boats when we were young. Of course we had! I remember making little leaf boats and sending them down the gutter, only to see them fall through the grate of a sewer never to be seen again. Today we made leaf boats; I made the most superb boat I have ever made. I fashioned together 2 curled up leaves with a stick in the middle making a perfect little pontoon boat. We all quickly ran over to the mill stream and dropped our boats into the water on the library side of the mill stream. We watched them float and curve with the current, every now and then one would get stuck in a cluster of leaves only to be pushed out by a helping hand. It sounds so simple, but sometimes that is the best type of fun. I would readily make leaf boats again any day.

29 October 2008
10:00
Behind Eton, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Tonight my friend and I decided to go long boarding around campus a couple times. On our second trip around campus I looked down to see several mushrooms growing in a little cluster. The stalks were so tiny it was surprising to see that they could support the caps that lay above them. The light above these mushrooms hit them at such an angle that each of their shadows magnified their minute frame to a couple times their actual size. The stalks of these mushrooms were a light brownish grey, and the cap that lay above was a dark grey. We kept long boarding for a while and circumnavigated the campus several more times. The weather was perfect, just cool enough to get a nice soft breeze as we long boarded around. After and hour or so we headed back to Matthews for the night.
28 October 2008
9:00
Matthews Dorm, Willamette University, Salem, OR
Today when I was out with Rose and several other people looking for Halloween Costumes, we happened to be right next to a pet store. We went in intending to just look at the cats and other animals (aka Rose and I are hoping to get a hamster some day ). We looked around for a while and then I decided to get a fish. I bought a delta tail beta and named him Dumont, after Simon Dumont an amazing skier. We got back to the dorms and I decided to write an observation about him. His scales are a bright, glimmering electric blue and his fins fade suddenly from this bright blue to a rich red. Every now and then he waves his fins back and forth in a menacing type of way, perhaps this is just a defensive tactic to a new environment? From time to time he swims lazily back and forth next to the glass barrier that separates him from the rest of the world. After seeing my fish, my friend Amelia decided to get a fish as well. So the next day we went back to Petco to find a fish for her. She is especially intrigued in bike racing and wanted to find a fish with white fins aka a “Euro” fish. She successfully found a fish and brought him back with her. For a while the fish was fine, but then he started exhibiting odd behaviors like lying on the bottom and floating on top. Later that night we came back to find him dead. It was a very unfortunate night for her.
31 October 2008
5:00
On the Way to Goudy, Willamette University, Salem, OR
On our way to dinner today someone mentioned how they never get to see the leaves fall off or trees because they’re from California. I can’t even imagine not having four seasons to experience. It seems as though it would be such a bland life. I began to notice the leaves more and more as we neared Goudy, for; maybe I just take this season for granted. The leaves ranged from dark brown, to tan, from bright yellow to orange. Seeing these beautiful leaves just makes me want to rake them all up and jump into the brightly colored pile and watch the leaves fly into the air and then, once again, back down to the ground.

Tyler Starr: 11/02 am, North Side of Campus

Tyler Starr

2 November 2008 from 1045-1100

Location: A walk along the north side of campus, from Belknap, through the path between Smullin and Eaton and along the academic buildings to the east side of the art building, and back

Weather: 54 ̊ F, off and on showers, slight breeze

General: With all of the deciduous trees shedding their leaves, my attention was drawn to many of the coniferous trees on campus. While the Star Trees command so much respect on campus, other cone-bearing trees that I noticed were equally commanding. My favorite was the one that was just outside the art building. Its branches extended far and wide, and its cones were very interesting, protruding upward instead of hanging (see picture). I also noticed another interesting pine tree; it was just as tall as the Star Trees, and yet it seemed so much more fragile and gaunt. Its branches didn’t fill up as much space as the dense, voluminous Sequoias, taking away from its imposing height. It had some pinecones hanging, scattered among its branches. While the ground below the Star Trees had pine cones spread about, I didn’t see any developed cones on the trees themselves. I did see a couple of dense clusters of what were most likely the beginnings of cones, small, light green balls that looked similar to buds.