Days 13 & 14 - An Evening Sit and Maple Inspiration

Day 13 - OK...so I'd been feeling guilty for not getting into my spot for the last 2 days.  My schedule had just gotten overwhelming with work and school and I just couldn't find sufficient time to get out there.  I was missing my robin friends, so on Day 13 I finally got out there.  This time, I stopped on my way home from work, which gave me my first opportunity to enjoy the peace and solitude of the setting sun.  The forest was much quieter than what I typically experience in my morning sessions.  There was a lot of activity going on outside the forest, as there was a baseball game going on and as well as a lively game of beach volleyball. This didn't really seem to bother the birds I saw scavenging to and fro, as the noise was off in the distance.  I look forward to the opportunity to spend some evening time in my spot as the spring turns to summer and the daylight lingers.

                                                                                          G. LaFata

Day 14 - So I am back in my routine and was able to get out to my spot this morning.  I again saw my friendly neighborhood robins and enjoyed watching the couple moving across my spot for about 15 mins or so.  Eventually, I felt like I wanted to explore a bit.  A few days earlier, I had ID'd the tree I use as a backrest as a maple based on the opposite leaf scars and the bark.  Now, I was beginning to see the tree flowering high up at the top. (I never really noticed before how the flowering starts from the top...it makes a lot of sense given more exposure to the sun, but I had never really paid too much attention prior to my sit spot routines.) Anyways, once I took a good luck at the "flowers",  I began to move around my spot to see how many other maples I could identify.  I find quite a few within a 20 ft radius of the other, as well as a string of trees along the far creek banks to the west of my spot. It was clear to me after about a 10 minute walk around the perimeter, that this forest is really DOMINATED by maples and oaks, with  few hickories around as well.  I will be interested in tracking the full cycle of watching these trees leaf and produce their winged seedpods(samaras) through the spring and summer, only to see the leaves drop off through the fall and winter. I see that I will never be bored at my spot, as nature always provides a new mystery to uncover or a new trail to explore.

With Thankfulness and Appreciation, Greg (a.k.a. The Accidental Naturalist)