Sit Spot

For this particular journal entry I chose a place to sit in Schmeekle Reserve. I found this spot when going for a walk with friends, and decided that I wanted to return. This was the same area that had all of the fallen trees that I wrote about in my Scientific Observation journal entry. During this particular visit my motives were more geared towards enjoying the day rather than hypothesizing on how the trees met their fate.

It was a rather windy day, but not too cold that I wasn't able to sit comfortably outside. The place that I chose to sit was on top of a large fallen tree near a small bridge. This tree rested across a dried up stream that I could look down into.

For a while I sat on the tree, near where the base had been. I found it amazing to see all of the small details about this spot that I had not earlier observed. In front of me there were small plants growing out of the bark, creating what looked to me to be a small forest on the back of the tree. A tiny little oasis in the middle of this large forest. It was completely undisturbed, even myself as I clumsily clambered up the side of it had not destroyed any of these little plants. There was moss covering the back of the tree as well, making a little green carpet under the tiny forest. As I looked further around me I noticed that everywhere there was new life and new plants growing where the old ones had fallen. A perfect little ecosystem of life and death. It made me appreciate that the fallen trees had not been cleared away as they would have been in so many other situations. Decomposing dead trees give way to new ones so the forest can stay alive. Seeing this was a refreshing change from some of the cookie cutter neighborhoods whose only goal is pure aesthetics. The goal here was life, and finally seeing it made me realize how important it is to not disturb nature and the environment. Our environment will take care of itself just fine if we do our part to not make it worse, which is something I am going to be more conscious of from now on.