Botanical Garden

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 19 September, 2008

Time: 1520-1540

Place: Botanical Garden

Weather: Clouds have mostly cleared off, but some remain (stratocumulus?).

The grass in the botanical garden is still very damp despite the fact that the sun has been out for a while. Speaking of the sun, the bees, both honey and bumble, are out in full force flying around to tons of different flowers. I can identify a few of them, like aster, and a others I recognize but don't know the names of. The bees are only on the flowers in the sunshine, which is interesting. I know when you put a berry in the sun it tastes sweeter...does the same thing happen with nectar? There aren't any hummingbirds in view, although they should be around someplace, unless they've left already. But at least one species stays through the winter, or so I thought. The Anna's? I can see the patches of fake test camas lillies that Prof. Kephart and a few students are doing an experiment with. I wonder how long the flowers are going to last now that it's cloudy and will probably rain soon.

*Photo courtesy of http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2706035594_151d8cb21e.jpg?v=0

Doney

Leo Castillo
3:00pm_3:30pm
September 19,2008
Doney, Salem, Oregon.
70 Degrees.
I feel like taking a look at the nature outside my dorm and what it holds. Sitting on the quad I can see mi casa (doney) a three-story building. Starting from right to left I can see a flowers and they are bright pink. Then moving on a green bush that extends along for about five feet. After that there is a tree that I cannot identify and some more bushes that look like Bracken. After all those bushes there are two trees that are bright green yet seem to have some yellow leaf, which fall and cover the entrance with. The leaf is a cross between an oblong and a elliptical shape. Moving along it seems that there are the same type of trees and bushes. As I look behind, the quad seems to be just a big plain that people can create any type of activities. But not today there is people dropping steel poles, which seem to be for tents. The next day there are white tents all over the quad, apparently they are for an upcoming class reunion weekend.

Giant Puffball

Observer: Eloise Bacher

Date: 18 September, 2008

Time: 1220-1240

Location: The Japanese Garden

Weather: Cloudy but still warm. A little bit of a breeze.

I'm sitting on a large rock in the Japanese garden, right next to a large stand of bamboo. The air feels very still right now, although occasionally a small breeze will come through. There are lots of sword ferns in here, which I hadn't noticed before. There also appears to be some kind of cedar, which has really shreddy bark, more so than cedars I've seen before. There's also a very small stooped tree, and there appears to be something white underneath it. I'm looking closer...it seems to be a really large mushroom/fungus. It's about a foot long and round, like a giant version of a puffball. Does it give off tiny spores like the little puffballs do? I want to find out, but it feels like it would be wrong to poke at it or mess it up. Looked it up...apparently it's name is the Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) and it does release spores like little puffballs do, and it can grow up to 14 inches in height and width. I should come back with a tape measure and see how big this one really is, and if it's released any spores.

*Photo courtesy of http://www.richard-seaman.com/Fungus/CzechRepublic/CzechGiantPuffball.jpg

Wilson Park

Leo Castillo
September 17,2008
1:00pm-1:30pm
Wilson Park (looking East) Salem, Oregon.
78 Degrees.
Today after lunch I went over to Wilson Park to hangout and see what I could fine. Heading over to the park I see the ring of flags with a green bright lawn which a squirrels roles around looking or wondering for something. I spot a bench and decide to sit on, and right in front is the pool of water. This pool is shaped in a rectangular form, two of its sides are bent in and on the outside of this pool there is a fence. This fence is to stop kids from going into it or just to make it look good. As I keep wondering, I see a couple of punks smoking on the other side of this pool of water. I can also see the area in which we had class one time. Still there and those statues are just chilling there not moving what so ever. The capital on my right just shines when the sun hit the statue and even on cloudy days it still glows in gold. Looking at my watch I can tell it’s time to head back to campus.

Jackson Plaza

Leo Castillo
September 16,2008
9:00am-9:30am
Mill Steam, Salem Oregon.
75 degrees.
Just got done eating breakfast and headed over to Jackson Plaza. I’m looking for a spot to make an observation. The west corner of the plaza looks like a great view to do some chilling. As I take my paper and pencil, I can’t help notice the sound of water gurgling as the stream flows west. Sitting in front of the Mill Stream, I see green seaweed that is hanging and being pushed by the current. Along the stream are three big rocks on the stream that could be used as footsteps. They could be used to cross over to the other side if you wanted to. I can feel the sun’s rays hit my back and bring a warmth feeling. Looking up and remembering that at one point student played tug-a-war, makes me want to get some people and start soothing like that. Someone also told me that the stream tens to be shallow on the weekends for some odd reason. Seems to me that students like to come the stream to hangout or even just to escape the four walls they’re in all day.

Observation September 21

Philip Colburn
21 September 2008
Location: in front of Montag
Weather: Cloudy
Time: 1100-1120 hours

I went in front of Montag to take a look at some of the bushes that grow in the gardens in front of the building. There are several bushes that are low to the ground, purple, and covered in thorns. I am somewhat curious as to why they are in the garden, because they do not have any flowers at all, and because of their thorns, they don’t seem like the recreational kind of bush that one would put in a garden. Maybe they have flowers but they are not in bloom. There are also some small bright red flowers that cover a small section of the garden. The garden with different flowers really brighten the area in front of Montag.

Collin's Observations Week 2

C. Jones
15 September 2008
Outside Shepard
1537

I see scattered brown crusted leaves over the ground, indicating the arrival of fall. The shade of a broad shaped tree catss shadws across the ground. I see withered green moss clinging to the roots of the tree providing me shade. Ahead of me are a row of spaced bushes surrounded by twigs. I see the same bug resembling an ant like I saw the week before scurry past me. A giant fly just touched my leg and flew off. Behind me are bushes that bend as if they are vines. I can see a patch of trampled grass to my right, looking worn out in the shade. Under the bench I'm sitting on, I see clumps of dirt with an ant walking slowly bnetween them. It's amazing what one can find in the simplest of places.

http://www.richard-seaman.com/USA/States/Illinois/VoloBog/LongLeggedFly9oClock.jpg

C. Jones
16 September 2008
Chicken Fountain
1407

I see the shadows of trees being cast over the circular bricks of the fountain. The sound of trickling water and the chirp of a bird is present in my ear. I see ants winding their way into a crevice by the side of the fountain. Perhaps it's their home. Next to me is a beaten looking pinecone, looking out of place on th plain granite surrounding the fountain. Behind me is a row of green bushes and ahead of them are some tinted purple. The closer the grass gets to the wall of the fountain, the more trampled it becomes. Brown leaves and fallen pine needles add to the bleakness of the patches of grass. The rock, however, looks quite relaxed in the shade.

lh5.ggpht.com/.../YRNERjJjptc/DSC00818.JPG

C. Jones
17 September 2008
Outside Shepard
1523

The grass around me is covered in shade and feels light to the touch. The wind creates a soft breeze that makes the leaves rustle. A few strands of grass perk up occasionally from the soft wind. Leaves around me intermingle with the rass and are shades a feignt yellow. Next to me, I can see a brown lead that is folded overitself. Ahead of me is a broad shaped tree with both light and dark leaves. The sun is casting a soift light behind me making the grass turn a bright yellow. There are also several large bushes behind me, creating sort of a cove to the area.

http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/gardening-articles/tulip-tree-yellow.jpg

C. Jones
18 September 2008
Brown Field
1425

I just saw what looked to be a grey squirrel sitting upright in the middle of the field. The field is full of green grass and clovers with the occasional weed popping up. Behind me is a row of colorful flowers shaded yellow and purple. There are a few trees, both broad and cone shaped on the outskirts of the field. I just saw a bug hop through the grass like it was diving underwater. The grass is thick and light to the touch and seems vast from a ground level. A pile of bright tan colored twigs looks out of place in the field. There is a huge cluster of bushes about 50 yards to my left that looks like it's concealing something. A bug just flew over my knee and dissapeared, making the field seem evenm more expansive.

C. Jones
19 September 2008
Shepard Hall
1452

The grass is light to the touch, and it is retaining the heat from the sun. I see holes in a minature concrete wall the look like they could belong to ants. The wall is rusted and tainted a brownish green, with moss growing on certain areas of it. There are flat bushes behind me with huge brown shaped leaves in the middle of them. There is a row of trees in front of me that are cone shaped. I see scattered yellow leaves beyond the pavement. Beyond the street I see a cluster of green trees in the shade. A bee just hovered by me. Nature still prevails in his urban setting.

Brown Field 9-20-08

Time: 1709-1731

Place: Sitting with my back to the Bike Shop looking at Brown Field in a white chair

Climate: 62 degrees, cloudy

I am sitting in the chair on one of the long sides of Brown Field looking at the things going on around me.  I see people walking across it, some people picking up the bottoms of their pants and tip toeing across the field to keep their pants from getting wet.  The ground seems to be a bit wet in some spots which is strange because it has not rained yet. I can see the entire back of Lee House.  I see some squirrels on the opposite side of the field from me, they are running around aimlessly, or so it seems.  It is usually quite peaceful to sit here but currently a movie screen is being set up for people to watch something later.  I am surprised to see squirrels out right now because of all the noise around.  It is very noisy, it would rattle a small animal like a squirrel.  The land like the brown field and the quad remind me of each other because they are both large open areas that people meet in and hang out on.  They remind me of preserved land, while other areas on campus remind me of conserved land that is not as kept up and could possibly be built on if its needed.  I like sitting here because i can watch people and have a full view of where they are coming from and where they are going, well usually.  I can see people in goudy and in the surrounding dorms/houses around me.  The grass looks so well taken care of, and once again i am shocked at how different this land is from the land back in Philadelphia.  The amount of fertilizers that are used in my surrounding area is out of control and the grass still does not ever look healthy while here the grass is thick and when you walk without shoes it almost feel bouncy under you.  The weather has been so strange lately.  I am so cold right now wearing thick sweatpants, wool socks and shoes and a sweatshirt while two days ago i was outside in shorts and a t-shirt and was hot.  It makes me wonder if this weather is here to stay or if it is just a little cold wave coming through and in a few days it will be hot again.  Something is telling me that this weather is here for a while... which is a shame because the weather was absolutely beautiful last week.  

http://www.weather.com/weather/pastweather/hourly/USOR0304?stn=0&when=092008

Mill Stream- 9-19-08

Time: 0843-0902

Place: Mill stream with back to the UC facing Smith Auditorium 

Temp:~55 degrees, overcast

It is early on a friday morning and there is not much happening right now.  A few people are mingling outside of Goudy Commons while other people are inside eating, enjoying a nice friday morning breakfast.  It is cold out this morning, the air is thin and feels like it is going strait through my sweatshirt.  The grass is wet and cold.  I notice 13 Mallards; 8 male and 5 female.  They are swimming around rather quickly and making some noise.  I turned around to move to a different seat and when i looked back they were all gone.  i didn't even know where they could have went. I looked around for a little and notice one male duck on the opposite side of the bridge to the left of me.  It was so strange.  They were here and then so quickly they left, like they had been talking about it and all left at once.  I am not used to watching ducks but their behavior is quite peculiar.  I find it especially odd because they look as though they are swimming so aimlessly however then they all meet and leave at the exact same time.  I was quite amused by that.  The wind has picked up a little.  Well actually, it seems as though the wind is picking up but then a few minutes later the air becomes still and the sun is very warm very quickly.  The sky is so grey today and its quite depressing.  I am already stressed out about work, this gloomy day doesn't seem like it will be very uplifting (except for that its friday!!!).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

http://www.weather.com/weather/pastweather/hourly/USOR0304?when=091908&stn=0

Tyler Starr: 9/20, Garden North of Eaton Hall

Tyler Starr

20 September 2008 from 1541-1556

Location: The small garden north or Eaton Hall

Weather: 66 ̊ F, overcast skies, no wind.

General: I came to the north side of campus for the third time in a row now. I really like how secluded it is on this side. No one comes through here on the way to classes or dorms or anything like that, because all of the buildings on campus are to the south. It’s so peaceful and relaxing. A few bees are buzzing from flower to flower, but not as many as in the botanical gardens. The flowers are a variety of colors, including white, pink, red, orange, and yellow. Each one has a small plaque underneath it with a title for the flower, and then a commemoration of somebody. It is pretty peaceful right now—there aren’t even that many cars driving along State Street on my back. I hear a few cars, but most of the sounds consist of several different birdcalls. The most prominent is the “cawing” from the crows across the street next to the capitol building. There is also a standard “tweet tweet,” as well as a loud, screech-like call from across the street. I saw yet another squirrel today. This one was a lot smaller than most. Perhaps it was just born this summer. It didn’t seem to be too frightened of me. When I leaned back on the bench I was sitting on, I got poked in the head by some thorns. The plant was a climber, and it had red thorns along its branches.

Observation September 20th

Philip Colburn
20 September 2008
Time: 1100-1120 hours
Weather: cloudy
Location: near the side entrance of Smolin hall.

I went down by the side entrance near Smolin hall because I had seen raccoons there the previous night and was hoping to find some evidence that they had been there the night before. However, all that I found were some purple flowers that hang down from thin green stalks. The raccoons from the night before however, were not accustomed to humans at all and stayed extremely far away from me and hissed when anyone tried to approach them. This is good, it means that they understand how to stay away from humans. However, they seem to have a great interest in the human food that is left behind. This is not good for the species, because it causes them to become too dependent upon people for food.

Asian themed Theatre?

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 19 September 2008
Location: North of Theatre entrance, Willamette University
Time: 1346-1400
Weather: 63˚F (where did the sun go?!!)

The plants that graced the entryway of the theatre have always intrigued me. I passed by the guardian beasts (white Chinese lions) at the front of the entrance several times, each time recalling my Art History class, but not once have I registered the tall 30-foot or more slender rods that lined the face of the building. The bamboos had yellow-green stalks, about 4 inches in circumference, with a notch at every one foot. At each segment, branches sprouted forth, each holding long elliptical leaves with parallel venetion similar to a grass blade. The oppositely arranged leaves grew at an upward slant, creating a spike effect. Interestingly, the structure and widths of the branches seems to resemble a lung. Thick trunks, followed by slender junctions, and then the finest of all that lead to a precariously adhered alveoli sac…err… I mean, leaf. Surrounded by the dark metal railing, the bamboos did not grow alone; a vine with ovate leaves appears to be dying off after attempting to scale the cage. The leaves were still green yet the vines themselves were frailly yellow. Despite the yellowed bamboo leaves and mulch covering the ground, weeds sprang up readily. They were 3 inches tall and had dark green leaves arranged radially around the stems. Small ferns also sprouted sporadically. I noticed that the bamboo seemed yellowish, but I was uncertain as to the cause, whether it has been the weather or if the color was what it appeared as a month ago. The stalks nearer the ground were curved, all in random directions. Could it be that they were planted poorly and not vertical enough? Maybe after their planting there was a strong wind that forced them to angle slightly in the ground? Was the sunlight varying during that time? But if it were, then most of the curves would be in similar directions. Too many questions, too few answers at hand.

Tyler Starr: 9/19, NE corner of campus

Tyler Starr

19 September 2008 from 1519-1537

Location: The far northeastern corner of campus on the lawn just north of East House.

Weather: 63 ̊ F, sunny, 5 mph breeze, slight humidity

General: This place is so secluded from the rest of campus. It is cut off from the rest of the North side of campus by the construction, making it even more remote. I really enjoy finding all of these places where I can be alone, since I need time to myself every once in a while, which is a hard time to find in college. I now know many places across campus I can go to get some alone time. The entire time I was sitting there doing my observation, two people passed by, probably on their way to Safeway. It was pretty loud though. The intersection of 12^th and State is pretty crowded, and there were lots of sounds of cars and buses. Also, the construction makes quite a bit of noise. I am sitting next to an interesting tree. It is a conifer, complete with pine cones and needles, but its shape is like that of a broadleaf tree, where there’s a trunk and then a big clumpy, bush-like mass of branches leaves (but in this case, pine needles), as opposed to the classic Christmas-tree-like shape of conifers. Tons of pine cones are scattered by its trunk, but I don’t see any on the tree itself. There is a birdhouse about 6 feet off the ground. It is the fourth identical birdhouse I have seen on campus (the other ones are on the big tree I sat under for my last observation on the north side of campus, on the Smith Auditorium way at the top looking over the Mill Stream over Jackson Plaza, and in one of the horse chestnut trees along the north side of the quad. It’s strange, but I never see the birdhouses unless I’m actually sitting there to do an observation. When walking by, I never notice them. I guess we as humans just don’t take the time to look at trees while we’re walking by. I haven’t seen any of the birdhouses being used. I’m starting to see some signs of fall, as have the squirrels who have been rapidly foraging as of late (I saw another one across the lawn from where I was sitting). A couple of the trees that I can see are beginning to change colors (see picture), although all of the trees are still mostly green, and some don’t have any color change at all yet. Also, some leaves are beginning to fall in the breeze.

Peculiar Duck Behavior.

H.R. Waller

Date: 18 September, 2008

Time: 0948

Weather: Overcast, 61 degrees

Location: Near the Millstream, with the library directly across the sidewalk behind me, facing Goudy.

Today is the first cool day we've had so far, and even though it is still early in the morning, I can tell it's not going to be another sweltering afternoon. The sky is all one white-grey color, and the campus looks, feels and acts in a subtle, but still completely different way. Things seems to move slower. Although I love the sunshine, I feel more relaxed and alert right now than I have thus far on campus. There are about 20 ducks in the river in front of me as I sit leaned against a tree. Two mallards a male and female, seem to be enjoying a liesurely float in front of me. The male just leaned over and touched the female on the neck, a gesture that looked like a kiss. The female then let out a soft, high pitched quack. The male swam a near perfect circle around her. She got up on her rear end, body almost totally vertical and flapped her wings before ducking back down and inverting her body, tail up out of the water. It looked very playful. What were those two doing? Were they playing, fighting, or communicating? Several other ducks a way down swim liesurely through the river, while many more sit on the bank sleeping. Two ducks are walking around on the grass, occasionally dipping their headsto the ground as if eating bugs. A single duck sits huddled down on the grass about 10 meters away from the larger mass of activity. Why are some ducks antisocial?

Picture courtesy of Google Images.

Yellowed, dried up tree

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 18 September 2008
Location: Southwest of Olin, directly outside of entrance
Time: 1656-1714
Weather: Still overcast, slight sunshine, 63˚F

I was heading toward the Transit Mall when I saw an oddity I the trees. Deciduous trees about 50-foot tall to the southwest all had vibrant green hues and few, if any had lost their leaves. However, to the west, a single tree in front of Olin’s had all of its leaves shriveled and dried. Even more curious, the leaves were still attached to the branches and none had fallen. The light brown trunk was long and slender with slight furrows. Weeds grew furiously in the mulch. Perhaps the tree is slowly dying? Or maybe it has felt the affects of Autumn sooner than most. To the east, a short maple, with branching trunks at the ground level, had a few reddish leaves, yet the majority was still verdant. The north side had the greatest concentration of reds. The south had a mass of red seeds with wings on them. Each wing drooped downward lifelessly, but I could only imagine how they would look in a strong gust of wind! They’d be cast off and glide gracefully down in a helicopter fashion. I think the anomaly may be due to the sunlight. Those areas that get the most sun, the north, have leaves that reddens sooner than the rest of the plant. A squirrel with an auburn coat, a dark undercoat, a white belly, and white ring around the eyes, carried what looks like a corn nut. After digging shallow holes three, four times at the base of the maple, it finally settled on a location and dug passionately into the ground. A moment later, it covered it up with its front paws, patting the ground tenderly, before commencing with sniffing at the ground and running off into the underbrush.

Duck Watching

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 18 September 2008
Location: Slightly southwest of the bridge to the east of Goudy's
Time: 935 to 959
Weather: Overcast, cloudy, 56˚F

The mallards intrigued me in the morning. At about 750, I discovered a majority of them swimming in the water and dunking their entire heads into the Mill Stream in search of insects. They were situated about the Jackson plaza area, but 2 hours later, I found half of them downstream directly to the north of the entrance to Putnam. The other half, primarily females, sat on the lawn near Putnam, all staring lazily at the water. In the past, I found them on the opposite shore, near Smith’s, but perhaps that was due to the bright sunlight? The weather today is overcast so they wouldn’t have needed the shade from the cedars opposite them. Why don’t they look around at the students passing noisily by? Were they observing their mates and friends? Did they just find nothing interesting to look at and faced the water out of ennui? Occasionally, a drake would upend into the water. How they keep their balance amazes me, for I would most likely have sank or fallen back. I see now; it propels hard with its feet to exert enough force to maintain its verticality. A loud quack was suddenly issued like a newsboy shouting the current events. Was that in response to a passing crow? As a drake cleaned its right wing, I could see its tail was completely black and the wings had a streak of iridescent colorings. Preoccupied, it gently floated off course toward me downstream. During the past minutes, I feel that the mallards have been steadily moving toward me downstream. A drake I noticed was moving in a weird little bob or performing “the wave”, finally ending by beating its wings emphatically, settling down, and shaking its tail.

Observation September 18

Phil colburn
18 September 2008
Location: The bridge to the west of Sparks across the millstream
Time: 1515-1530 hours
Weather: Sunny after clouds in the morning
I was sitting on the edge of the bridge on the way to Sparks from Baxter, just looking into the millstream looking for some sort of fish when a chittering noise made me jump. When I looked up, a squirrel was hanging off of a flexible branch, right in front of my face. He chattered at me for a few minutes, but quickly moved away. The wildlife here is very accustomed to human interaction, and easily will come up to any person on the campus and look for some sort of handout. I also saw a Blue Jay that was hopping from branch to branch on one of the small, whippy trees growing almost directly out of the blue. I was alerted to his presence by the hoarse caw that they make that is so in conflict with how they look.

Picture courtesy of http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/blue-jay.jpg

Observation Sep 17

Phil Colburn
17 September 2008
Location: Millstream
Time: 1200-1220 hours
Weather- Sunny and clear

While relaxing by the millstream today, I saw quite a few mallard ducks. They would walk around on the grass and float in the stream. They caught little pieces of food that people threw to them and were obviously very accustomed to associating with people. They would let most people get very close but would quickly shy away from actual contact, jumping into the millstream to get away. It seemed as though a few of them could not fly, as when chased, they would only jump into the millstream and paddle frantically away rather than taking off. Professor Craig did mention something about the males being unable to fly at a certain time of year, but exactly what he said escapes me.

Picture- http://fohn.net/duck-pictures-facts/mallard-duck.jpg

The Quad- 9-17-08

Place: facing Smith Auditorium from the corner of the Quad in a chair in front of Eaton

Time: 1803-1827

Climate: about 65 degrees, chilly in the shade

I was walking back from Smullin and was looking at the quad and realized that it is a very interesting area on campus.  From where i am sitting, i feel as though i can see mostly everything going on.  I am watching groups of students walking towards Goudy Commons and i am watching other groups walking back towards their dorms.  The Quad is an interesting place on campus.  It has many different uses and has a different purpose to everyone around.  There are people studying in groups, people studying alone, people sleeping, people playing sports, and then there are the people merely sauntering across it.  It is a nice community meeting place on campus and when it is nice outside it is even more appreciated.  The history of the Quad was also very interesting to me as well.  That all the bricks that made up waller hall were made from the clay under the quad.  I think everyone knows that history and most feel similar to me in the sense that whenever looking at the quad and at waller hall they picture it happening in their head and don't really believe it.  

While there is not much nature that is catching my eye at the moment, the fresh taken care of grass just doesn't even look real to me.  In Philadelphia you are lucky if you have green grass through the summer, at least where i am.  The grass is thin, prickly, and a dull green.  Here it is thick and luscious and you can walk barefoot on it and not regret not wearing shoes.  Its all even and so perfect looking that when you take a certain group of people to focus in on it looks like a postcard, or a picture that could easily be used on the school web page.  Its such an interesting area on campus and is very fun to relax here and watch what's happening around you.

Herman the Spider: 18 September 2008

Rose Dickson

18 September 2008 

0846 – 0903 hours

30 yards south of Belknap Hall on Willamette University campus, Salem, OR, USA

55 degrees, all cloud covering

            I look for the different textures and rhythms that nature provides as I leisurely brush my fingertips against my natural surroundings. A daily routine as I walk back to my dorm from a long day of class. Yuck, I got fooled by a spider web, this must be how a fly feels. However, I can’t help but acknowledge that this cobwebbed mess, now stuck to my fingers, was once the comfortable home to a, currently, pretty destitute spider. Oh god, SPIDER. As that thought ran threw my head I noticed a tickling of legs climbing up my arm. He had a brownish grey body and 8 twig-like legs. He moved slowly but right as I noticed him he stopped. It felt as though he could feel my presence. Despite my first instincts to forcefully brush the little critter off, I decided it was my rightful duty to find him a new home. I ventured on my way back to Matthews dormitory and on the way I came a cross a labyrinth of cobwebs. A spiders mansion. It was sparkling with fresh dew and decorated ever so nicely with leaves and pine needles. I dropped off my new friend at this place to make a home for himself and I watched as he climbed around this new residence.

I’m looking forward to frequent visits and observations with this creepy crawler. I think I'll name him Herman.