Sit Spot days 14 to 16

Sat Mar 28 (Day 14). 5:30 PM. Hazy cloud coverage, faint blue sky at the zenith. No shadows. Pond has enough ripples over much of it to reflect the white light from the sky. Wind is slight -- grass stalks moving but rarely a leaf. Earlier it was gusting a little from the south. Cloud of small flying creatures rising and falling above my head -- when I stand up I'm in their midst but sitting down occasionally two drift into sight. They don't land. The line of daffodils has gotten taller. Examining the ground I find that within a fingerlength either way there are 7 vines running north south, and 4 running east west. Ranging from about 2mm to 7 mm thick. There's a wisteria seedpod, or rather half of one, empty of its two seeds, dried out, at my feet. Its wonderfully velvety on the outer shell. Twisted nicely -- does it twist itself or twist as it dries out, to spring the seeds? White inner layer. Pointed at either end. There are stands of low greens under the beech, and I saw a small furry 2 inch set of leaves which looked like the beginning of some mullein. Once I settle in I want to sit and sit and not think too much, just listen to the totality of it all.


Sun Mar 29 (Day 15) 9:30 PM. Dark. Not totally. Two spots of greenish light on the Eastern Horizon, and another glow from the North. Raining lightly. Rained off and on all day, rarely heavily. Dripping from the trees -- there are no leaves, so the branches must collect and drip water. Mist against my face. Peepers. I find three sounds: from our pond, the soprano steady cheep that always sounds like jewels to me, like light through gems. Same direction, a longer, slightly lower, more occasional musical note. The former are maybe 1/4 second over and over, the later maybe 1 second then 3 sec pause then again, and there are only a few. To the right, the more hillocky pond across the road, steady short sounds more like a plucked rubber band or a duck's quack. Lots of them. When a car goes by these shut up for a bit. The sky is flashing every 20 or 30 seconds, in all directions, faintly perceptible so it might be my eyes but I don't think so. Mysterious, no sound of thunder, must be distant or very high. It's cold. The trees seem solemn, or ominous, in their height and the sense that they are used to wet cold nights, it is their world half the time and we don't even see it as a rule.


Mon Mar 30 (Day 16) 4 PM. Rain coming to an end, dryer west wind starting to blow, but still cloudy. Wind sounding in the trees. Along with a few blackbird checks and some complaints from the red-bellied woodpecker, directed at the blackbird I think. A pile of fresh scat, round slightly flattened balls about 1/4 inch across, a pile of maybe 15, a new version of what I've noticed before, looks like straw in them but I'm not picking these apart right now. I leave my glasses on for a change and contemplate the high pine tree across the way, with it's flat tiers of greenery. And all along the far shore the bushes are dense, many with a rounded shape. The pond has a pretty strong ripple pattern running to the SE, and again it looks like pollen along the far edge. But the hardwoods aren't flowering, nor the juniper that I've looked at. Maybe the pines? The patch of greenery under the beech seems to be daffodils. They're already sending up flower heads. None of the plants right where I sit seem much bigger. The buds on the quince have maybe just a touch more fuzz at the tips. And the dead leaves, some are wet and turning black, others quite close to white. The variation is striking, but I don't really know what the pattern means.