Thursday, April 30, 2009

April 30



Thu Apr 30, 4:30 PM. 60s. pond ruffled, partly cloudy, steady wind from the south. Beech tree has popped a lot of leaves, they seem to emerge in 3s, a bit fuzzy, a gorgeous shade of, hmm, what is that color? Brownish red? Maple and hickory have little leaves too. And all around me, densely under the beech but everywhere, a sugar maple forest, mostly 3 to 6 inches high, reveals itself. Wow. Left alone this would soon be a dense stand of maples. How long do trees take to grow? Right next to the beech trunk are two maples about 4 feet high. No baby beeches that I can see. The wisteria begins its summer with a quick, 2 inch growth topped by still tightly clustered leaves. My herbs, or forbs (new word!) have grown a bit, I'm pretty sure 3x3 is golden alexander. Yes, there's my note from last year, found out in the field: "Zizia aurea. tiny yellow flowers in flat-topped cluster, leaves are divided w/ varying #s of toothed lobes. Parsley or carrot family." It's the varying lobes that gives it away. It's hard to practice looking straight ahead, using peripheral vision, because the black flies immediately appear in my face. If I look down either they leave or I don't see them, I'm not sure which. They don't really bite, they like to float around and then buzz in and bounce off, and then somehow they always bite but you only notice it the next day. If one does land and you reach up to touch it most of the time you find it rolled under your fingertip, instead of flying off like a mosquito. A tick appears on my hand. The red-wings, grackles etc are quiet at the moment. I've seen them either wrestling or mating in the last few days, I suppose they're working out their territories now. Quite the community. A duck flies in, making a high sound, I catch it in the binoculars and see a line of white on its brown wings, but when it lands I cant make out much detail. Then I notice a mallard standing on a tussock of grass: bright orange feet! Who knew?

Monday, April 27, 2009

Growth

Mon Apr 27, 6:30 PM. 80 degrees, everything growing. dead spider husk on a wisteria stem. glory flowers faded into round beach ball black seed pod. fertile? rustling. beech buds fatter. downy pecking on beech tree, belly on a branch. white lozenge on its back, red cap somewhat divided, yellowish whitish beak, claws gripping the branch, pecking next to a bud. far side of beech (SE) open leaves, red rounded oddly large next to all those weeks of closed buds. wisteria bud gone green. quince leaves 1/2 inch. lower field greening. 3 x 3 plant getting established. palm tree plant separating its leaves -- butter n eggs? cleavers: like bedstraw but smaller, only 6 leaves in a whorl usually, spiny hairs along the stem edges and leaf edges that catch. Grass forming new shoots that clasp the old ones. I take off my Tevas: barefoot for the first time. Red wings rule this pond, they and the grackles are everywhere, and a passing hawk is harrassed as it passes by.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Crescent moon night

Sun Apr 26, 8:30 PM. Peepers Really Loud, vaguely reminiscent of a needle screech on a record. Sort of a high, rich, vaguely irritating noise. One owl hoot, from afar. Rustling in the leaves around, one soft snap. Grass clumps dark, dead leaves lighter. Hint of another soprano call a little below the peepers'. Clouds almost to the zenith. Little wind. No insects to be noticed; I expected mosquitos as the day hit 84. Probably low 70s now. After a while a breeze pops up, then a gust, then a bigger gust, creating a sense that something's about to happen. The smells these carry are rich, hummus and moisture and plant breath, like the tropical room at the Brooklyn conservatory. I focus on relaxing my eyes, ears, self to take in whatever offers itself; it's beautiful but almost too much. Up at the zenith the big dipper presents itself, but the north star is hidden. On the way back I find a very very thin crescent moon resting in the treeline to the northwest.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Blue heron day

Sat Apr 25. 7 AM. Light Eastern sun, not too warm. Hardly any wind, just a small ruffled spot on the pond near the alders. In the light one can see lots of single spider webs, glinting. And lots of insects, the living world gone three dimensional, every cubic yard of air has 2 or 3 or more floating in it. The grass is growing in clumps, around the clumps the dead leaves in troughs. Two more new plants: one a little palm tree of sorts, ie a stem with a clump of leaves at the top, although close exam shows 3 leaves tiny in a whorl near the bottom. These are 1/8-1/4 little ones, entire,a grey green maybe a little fleshy. And something else thus far just the two first leaves, roundish,also 1/8 inch. The bedstraw is making a bid for height. It has 8 leaves in a whorl, looking proud. The glory in front of me seems bigger and longer lasting than the others; it was the first, too, does it appreciate my contemplation? I appreciate its violet blue self. I watch a blue jay: big bird. It's pecking at something high on a branch. A blue heron flies the length of the pond, south to north: that's a really big bird. Wingspan 6 feet? Tina (the female titmouse). The red-wings. Chortles: turkeys? Or the neighbours chickens? I think turkeys. We had another .3 inches of rain, then yesterday it hit 70.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Hair-do bug


We've had a lot of these lately; kind of like mosquitos but they have these fuzzy antennae so we're calling them 'hair-do bugs'.

sit spot notes -- Tues Apr 21, 7:30 PM. Rain, 50s, light wind. Cloudy. The pond an intense black, the glories violet petals glow, the woods across the pond a melting of black, red, shades of grey and green, the daffies a smear of yellow white. Two geese land, crying, splashing on the water. Peepers loud, one other sound, the steady cheep every second or so. Water falling over dam. Hands cupped behind ears, mouth open: new sound. Water? Static? It goes away when I put my hands down. Seems to come from the south: probably water.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Taurus


Sun Apr 19, 9 PM. Clouds part way up but after about 45 degrees you can see the stars, big dipper at about 12:30 to the North star. Peepers loud and steady and soprano. Rustling in the leaves, slight. 40s. No moon, but the clouds reflect quite a bit of light and one can make things out. Neighbour's dog letting out high, short yips periodically.

Mon Apr 20, 9:30 AM. The wisteria have pushed out tiny, red-pink buds that look like tongue tips. I find it disconcerting: the Advance of the Wisteria begins. Dormancy broken. The glories are withering. The quince has feathery greenish buds now. The forsythia is 90% in bloom. Some of the shrubs are budding with small leaves, including the fragrant white-flowered one next to the forsythia. Grass is higher, 5 or 6 inches, and one type is a much different green, more blue in it I guess. The pond is rippled to the north now, and smoother to the south, the ripples are running steadily north, and on the smooth part from time to time a patch of ripples appears as if by magic, revealing tiny wind gusts strong enough to disturb water. The neighbour across the pond is busy in the nw corner of his lawn, building a patch of something. I stiffen as I see him walk into what I think of as "my" woods. Chickadee, red-wing blackbird. One of the later flies up the field into the maple, a blur of red and black. A titmouse lands in the beech: the 2nd bird in the beech. A few errant bugs. Cloudy, just enough wind to move the puschkinia a little. Upper 40s. And a spider! Tiny, with an orange-red body and a black head, building a web amongst grass stems. What will it catch?

Friday, April 17, 2009

Pushkinia


Tues Apr 14 (Day 31). 6:30 PM. Sparrow rustling on the ground, in the leaves past the forsythia. low 50s, more cloudy than not, little wind. pond rippled on east side. duck lands, drags its feet for 10 ft or so. 2 geese fly the length of the pond, n to s. blackbirds. something behind me, a rustle, bird I'd say. a gnat or such. leaves a shade of copper brown that I could contemplate forever, almost, like a memory of a wood floor and a place of peace. Chionodoxa look tired, numerous. Puschkinia look fine. A few forsythia flowers open. Unknown bush near forsy. w/ white 4 petalled numerous flours, yellow stamen, dark base, heavenly scent, alternate leaf scars, light tan bark, fibrous in places. Name 5 things about a plant -- I take the mint like one: leaves approx triangle shaped, end near the stem is more or less flat, one side very slightly lower than the other. A dark green, underneath reddish, stem burgundy red, hairy. leaf about 1/2 inch square. opposite, very slightly wavy edges. 3 patches within arms length, 1 is the size of my hand with maybe 6 stems, 2 are more like 3 in square, it may have runners. I'm hesitant to dig around and disturb stuff. The leaves, in pairs, are at right angles to the pair before so it's a sort of cross effect, all crowded pretty close at this stage. Color: http://www.realcolorwheel.com/tubecolors.htm 2nd in on section 30.

Wed Apr 15. 4 PM. Windy and dry. Sunny, just some long thin clouds, wispy. The pond is smooth on the far side today. Two diving ducks, probably h.m. Lots of Glories, 20 in a 4 inch swath straight east maybe 25 ft. And a few bugs! A bee or a fly is visiting the glories one by one. 50s, would be hot but for the steady cold wind. Wandering around earlier I have to say Plant X is very common. Using the hand lens I look a bit more at the possible mint. Seen this way the leaves remind me of African violets, those little white kind of fuzzy hairs. On the stem they're a bit curly, possibly more numerous along the edges and bases of stems but everywhere, less numerous further down the stem, perhaps as it elongates they will space out a lot. They too curl a bit, dont look very stiff, come straight up but then some curl. The leaf stems clasp the main stem a bit, forming a slight ridge across it, lightly joined. And I think I find a dry flower stem, 4 sided, a few hairs, the few remaining dry flowers are irregular. I'll try and take a picture later. I crush one small leaf but the smell is faint.

Fri Apr 17. 6 PM. Warm -- 60s. Sunny, light breeze, wispy clouds. Black flies arrive, settling on my face and leaving again, just a few land, one tries to crawl into my eye. A bird is calling in the hickories, and I crane my neck and can just make it out, blackbird of some sort, but the cry might be a cowbird. Later 4 birds, no, 5, arrive and land in the beech tree -- first birds in the beech tree! They dont care about me, they are black but smaller than the red-wings, 3 black and 2 brown tan, one calls and makes a display just like the red-wings do, but the call is more musical, flutish, at the beginning, and I think I can make out the brown heads of cowbirds. A second displays. The first is edging toward the female. No wonder they don't care about me. Suddenly they all skirmish and fly off, except one who sits about for a while, displays once, then leaves. There are more pushkinia today, maybe 50 to 100 in sight, on top of the 100s of chionodoxa. The daffies here aren't quite open yet. The other plants looks a little bigger, and the quince buds have a slightly feathery aspect. Near the maple, 20 feet up or so, a swarm of bugs moves around in that swarm way that seems coordinated. Maybe the same ones I saw on a window before coming down, like a mosquito, at least the way the feet looked, with similar wings, but amazing little furry antennae, like a strange hairdo almost. The two beavers are making their way leisurely down the pond, north to south, diving from time to time. I missed coming out yesterday, like not taking a shower or something.

Monday, April 13, 2009

sit spot day 30


Mon Apr 13 (Day 30). 10:30 AM. Last day of the official challenge. Windy and cold, got down below freezing again last night. The pond has waves, the troughs run a foot or two apart, everything headed north to south. Some of them have little white caps. First time all month. A lone swallow skims over them. 2 geese are floating near a mallard, they take off and land in the field. A bird is singing a steady 'peter peter peter'. I cant remember which one does that, but amazingly (given how elusive the songbirds have been), I find it by eye and then with the binoculars. It's the male titmouse, with the cute little black beak, crest, grey back, orange red under the wings, white belly. Behind it a blackbird fluffs and chirps. I catch a glimpse of a blue jay. I've brought my camera and settle down to photograph all my plants, all around my spot short and long range, my spot itself. I find what I suspect is a wisteria seed, flat and about 1/2 inch across, chestnut brown, thin. Maybe see an insect out of the corner of my eye, maybe not.

Thanks be to the creators of this challenge, and to the birds, beasts, insects, reptiles, plants, winds, waters, earth, rocks, stars, sun and moon, humans and their machines.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Sit spot Day 29

Sun Apr 12 (Day 29). 10:30 AM. Windy and cold, just over freezing. Cumulus clouds, some big, some in tatters. The beech tree leaf is rattling when I arrive -- there's one that has a particular rattle at the right wind speed. Some dead leaves on the ground are rising and falling in the wind, but not scudding about. Only once or twice does a really big gust come through, roaring in the tree tops. But the pond has small waves over all of it, running south, reflecting blue sky or cloud light. Using my binoculars for a change I see a couple of pairs of ducks, mallards and another, and white specks all over the pond. What's shedding white specks? I'd have to go closer to find out. The Glory flowers (Chionodoxa) are looking a bit tired with all that rain and cold. But there's a white variant, or another small white flower, one here, one there, and a clump in one place. Later I look at one more closely and it has blue lines on each petal, down the middle. And back at the house I find it in a book: Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica, known as Puschkinia. Another Turkish native. The plants around me are growing slowly, it at all. Plant X doesn't seem to have changed much at all, nor the bedstraw. One of the new ones has such thin, soft fuzzy leaves -- I count 7 now, all from the same base -- I keep stroking it. I turn around for a change and find a dandelion, and another new one with a stem about 3/4 of an inch then an oblong, entire leaf about 3/4 of an inch. That's a lot of plants growing within arms reach. I wonder if I'll get to know all their names. I look at the dead stalks around again, there are mainly two in the long round category, one is hollow, one not, and the leaf scar pattern is different on each. Not much bird activity, saw one sparrow on the way down, and another day with no evident insects.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sit Spot Day 27 and 28

Fri Apr 10 (Day 27). 9 PM. Dark and rainy. Peepers Very Loud. Around 60. Light wind, steady light rain. Faint bands of color: field, pond, woods - woods a softer black than pond. Smell of water and dirt, not too strong. Nothing but peepers, and all along the pond, not just at the far end. Steady pitter patter of rain. We dont lack rain here. We get rain, then sun, then rain, usually fairly well distributed. What do we lack? Ground that isn't stony? Rain on my face feels good, gentle. I'm not cold really. Seems crazy to come outside in dark and wet but it's fine, really.

Sat Apr 11 (Day 28). 4:40. I haven't been timing my sits but today I do as I'm due in for an early dinner. 10 min passes very quickly. I've hardly settled down. I linger a few more minutes. Still overcast, not raining at the moment. Pond is its dark, calm self with just a little riffle near the island, and a few patterns that come and go. Maple tops are red but there seems a little orange mixed in. Peepers are silent, blackbirds are calling. The Glory flowers are hanging down. A few shoots have white flowers on them, not open, probably a white variant but when they open I'll check. It's 39 degrees. Two ducks take wing, fly across the pond, and settle down again. No apparent reason. Two others are diving, under as often as up. The swallows are back again, swooping and turning over the pond, maybe 30. The pond reflects them back.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Sit Spot Day 26

Thur Apr 9 (Day 26). My blue flower has been ID'd, thanks to Charlie at the Sit Spot Forum: Chionodoxa forbesii, Glory of the Snow. Alpine plant from Turkey, Crete and Cyprus. And that protruding white part is called the perianth.

5:25 PM. 60 degrees. No coat! Cumulus clouds, not too thick, medium frequent, distinct bottom plane. Light to dark blue sky, slight breeze, a few ripples on the pond but lots of smooth too. As I settle I see 7 blackbirds arrive in the maple, and I admire my field of Chionodoxa and listen to a long, detailed concert from the blackbirds. With a background of peepers, mostly at the far end of the pond where it's swampier. Haven't heard the wood frogs since those first few nights. And, subtle but definite, things are moving the leaves. For some reason I dont think it's the wind. Plants growing? Insect? Worm? Just a slight sound here, then there, like something shifting. I count 16 Chionodoxa within reach and probably 100 or more within sight. A couple of turkey vultures overhead, a duck or two flies by. Possibly the slap of the beaver. My plant with the slit leaf now has leaves, 2 more have appeared in the currently popular basal rosette arrangement. I consider the grass, which I tend to ignore as being too, um, related to a civilized era of mown lawn. Plus I've never studied grasses much, except one day last year in the field. A clump, green shoots, parallel veins, pointed tip. 3 to 4 inches long so far, 1/8 inch wide. All to be expected. Then, there it is, another kind. The one has a distinct vein down the middle, is maybe 1/4 inch wide, comes from more of a sheath at the bottom, and is a different green, maybe a touch of white mixed in, less bright/dark. I would call the later a hay field grass and the former a lawn grass. Mostly what I see around me is the clump type. Soon there will be a full moon coming up. No insects within sight, although earlier I saw things crawling in the field.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Sit Spot Day 25

Wed Apr 8 (Day 25). 7:00 PM. Settle down in the dusk and look again at the little blue/purple flowers. The base of the petal on the inside is white, and then there's a little white protuberance with the yellow stamens showing. My little plant with the odd little slits on the edge of the leaf is quite red/purple on the underside. It's still just a lone, 1 inch long leaf. I say hello to a few other plants and then glance up and realize there's a yellow moon peeking around the beech tree, caught in the hemlock. Enchanting. I shift in my little scuffed spot to face it. Tinker's right, I've made a little trail to my spot and all the leaves are broken into bits where my legs rest, and nothing's growing there really, and that's just from me sitting no more than 1/2 hr a day for a few weeks. I really appreciate how all around the leaves and grass and vines and other plants are loosely arranged, with air pockets and never a foot fall, such that the dead leaves remain intact, and the plants can come up slowly in little sheltered nooks. The moon seems way South. It's about 2 fingers high, and seems about midway between east and south. The peepers are a steady high cacophony, and something else is making a single tone, over and over, maybe a second long, a B flat I'm guessing. The usual ducks pass overhead, 3 this time. An occasional blackbird calls, and there are various twitterings. There's so much to know out here, sounds and sights and wind directions and patterns on the pond -- this morning there were wild gusts in patches here and there.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Sit Spot Day 24

Tues Apr 7 (Day 24). 5:45 PM. Cold day, never really got over 40, and I was resistant to go out. Clouds medium heavy but thinner at the zenith, and after 20 min the sun actually came out, just touching my head before disappearing behind the house. Pond mildly ripply. 2 blackbirds in the maple, making their usual longer call but sounding a little dispirited, sort of flat. Beaver nosing slowly through the water near the island, brief glimpse of his torso before he dives. I look at my purple flower, having checked Newcomb's Wildflower Guide and seen that if the petals have bristles on the tips then it's a "blue-eyed grass", although that says "late spring, early summer". But it's the only 6 petalled, blue, basal leaves only flower in the book. All the same, no bristle. Deep purple, 3 to 5 flowers in a raceme, flower stalk reddish, the yellow in the middle seems to be the stamens, the leaves are shorter than the flower stalk, 2-3 inches long, 1/4 inch wide if flattened but the two edges of the long, narrow, entire leaf curl toward each other,meeting at the tip, looks like a good system to catch water. There're a lot coming up now. There's also another new plant, probably a plantain, already over 2 inches long little clump of leaves all growing from the same spot, a "basal rosette" slightly hairy, distinct vein down the middle. So much growing here! Would that I had that many edibles coming up in a garden! Meanwhile, I glance back at the pond and receive my Surprise of the Day: a flock of 20 or 30 swallows. Swooping and gliding over the pond in the sun, flashing white on one side, dark on the other, back and forth, occasionally shifting over the field, together and apart. Brings back hot August summers, my mother sharing my delight at the swooping birds, late afternoon, while she goes about making dinner. So much for staying present...

Monday, April 6, 2009

Sit Spot Days 22 and 23

Sun Apr 5 (Day 22). 10:30 PM. Chilly night, stars out. Big Dipper has moved up to the top branches of the maple, and the orange/white star that was on the horizon is caught in the beech. The tail of the Big Dipper points to that star. The moon is fuller, over my right shoulder and my left knee casts a sharp shadow. Just after I sit I hear a slap on the water near the beaver dam. Beaver tail slap. Did it notice me all the way up the hill? A minute or two later it is repeated. On the other hand, if it's not me triggering the alarm, what is? I wonder if a coyote would take an interest in me. Woodcock peeping off and on. Peepers constant. A bit later, from the other end of the pond, more slapping. Maybe they do it for fun. Must feel good. This night is mistier, and not as darkly magical as the other night. A bird is twittering in the dark.

Mon Apr 6 (Day 23). 5:30 PM. Downpour. Steady, heavy rain. lower 40s. I take a large umbrella and it feels awkward. I stare at the red trees across the pond through the rain, which is marching in great columns down the pond. But first I lean down and greet my purple flower, which has opened: 6 petals and a yellow center, which sticks out a bit. So it's not a 'bluet', which has four petals. I think I liked that word, I've been using it for these little flowers for a few years. It looks familiar, like I've looked it up before. The rain is noisy on my umbrella and everywhere else. No peepers, no birds, no insects, no water fowl. Just heavy rain. I ponder the grass. There really is a lot of it, this was field and not long ago. All the other plants are more recent invaders. It all looks similar, soon I'll learn a bit about grasses and give it a name. I ponder the shades of green around me, dominated by the grass. Notice another shoot at maybe 6 feet, because it's a different shade of green. Notice my 3 leaved strawberry like plant, the leaves coming from the base look like what I think of as eglantier, the wild rose that is pretty aggressive around here, taking up residence in many places and being unpleasantly prickly. These are just a few little leaflets, an inch or two long, but I bet that's what it is. The water is ponding in the track in front of me, the 'lower driveway' as we call it. I wonder where the water goes, and tune in, and look at the beech, where the leaves are thicker underneath, and all the seedling maples are growing, and it's as though they say to me: we capture water. We are the water storers. Reminds me that the neighbour across the way complained this morning how their lower lawn is soggier since the new houses were built across the road, up the hill from their land. We capture rain. The rain is still marching down the pond, looking purposeful.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Sit Spot Day 21

Sat Apr 4 (Day 21). 9:00 AM. Upper 40s, overcast with the bottoms of thick cumulus clouds showing, not raining, winds N/NE/NW, gusty, sometimes loud in the trees. At one point no wind where I sat but loud across the pond, pine trees swaying over there. Pond rippled, no water fowl in sight. New sound: human footsteps, walker on the road. Probably sneakers. Rythmic, 2-footed, fairly fast. My purple flower plant now has 3 or 4 buds and a companion next to it. Try my drawing, quick sketch of each of the plants close by. Then draw a circle representing about an arms reach around me, maybe 2 feet, letter each plant and put letters in the circle to represent their location. The "C" are for the wisteria shoots and they seem innumerable, all around. There's a nother patch of my flower coming up to the right, maybe 8 shoots; 2 samples of what might be a mint; maybe 15 spots where bedstraw is showing; 1 example of the 3 leaved long stalked thing; maybe 10 of Plant X on two sides but not on the other, 1 of my little plant with the slits on the leaves, and, what's that: a new plant! At first it looks boring, maybe 4 or 5 little toothed leaves, dusty green, could be anything, but then I investigate and find it runs along on a hairy little round stem, with opposite leaves, either another vine or a trailing plant, this one about 8 inches, then reappears for another 6 or 8 inches. reddish on the bottom of the leaves and they're a little hairy too. Complete with a 2" long worm crawling around on it. It occurs to me I'm ignoring the grass. And that it's time to go eat breakfast. Walking up I see the first open daffodil.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sit Spot Day 20

Fri Apr 3 (Day 20). 5:45 PM. Been raining all day, and before I go out it's a downpour so I put on rain pants and top. 50s. Rain stops when I get out, although I dont realize it immediately. Sky an even white. I stare at the pond, which is in its dark, reflective mood -- every tree perfectly reflected. The red maples have trunks covered in lichen, whitish green in the rain, and the tops are a glowing red -- soon they'll flower if they haven't yet. The peepers are steady. Everything is growing now. The purple blue flower has two buds now and they should open soon. A small fly lands on me, back section striped and about 4 mm long, front hunched with two little attenae, feet like a mosquito's. It walks on my hand a bit and doesn't bite. Mostly it keeps tumbling to its side maybe trying to dry itself a bit. I pick up a broken stick to look at the pattern on it and find 3 worms, about 1 mm wide and an inch long. One raises its tip up 1/4 inch and weaves around in a circle looking for something to touch I presume. The stick is about 1/2 of an inch across, the bark fibrous where it broke and in the middle a slim rod of pith. I wonder where it came from; I know elder and sumac have pith, I wonder what else. This is quite slim. Something is moving on the pond again, like a small insect or snake. More round ripples but it could be stray raindrops. Several birds around, one call might be a robin. The field is showing green under the yellow; also one spot along the far edge of the pond.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Sit Spot Day 19

Thurs April 2 (Day 19). 3:30 PM. Warm today, in the 60s, with just the lightest breeze from the south, a bit hazy. Lots of plant growth. Besides Plant X, which I find everywhere these days, there were 5? 6? other herbs coming up, not including the grass. At this stage the grass all looks similar to me. My little purple blue flower is being joined by more. There's another patch of the dark green little plant with opposite, non-toothed, slightly hairy, lightly pointed leaves, very dark green. It has a square stem, so perhaps its a mint. There's the bedstraw, which has 7 to 9 little leaves in whorls around a square stem, and is also very common. There's the one sprouting from a fairly substantial (1/4 inch) base, it has one older leaf that is really 3 leaves, lobed and toothed, at the end of about a 4 inch stalk, and then more little ones coming. There's something over near the daffies that looks like a begonia leaf. There's the cute little leaf about an inch long, oval, medium green, that has teeth so small they look like 3 little slits on each side. I saw something in the pond, neither bird nor beaver, possible snake or turtle or insect -- I'm too far to tell really, it was just notable. Actually saw 2 or 3 swimming things like that. Noticed the ducks flapping up water again, possibly at each other. The field is still a lovely yellowish straw color, probably not for long. The lower field (wetter ground) is a lighter yellow and the grass there has thicker leaves. Contemplated a long dead stalk (about 2 ft long) which I might have called a grass except it has little leaf scars along it, alternate but not in one plane. Round about the stem, every 3 inches or so. A bit rough. At the bottom it shreds into fibers a bit, but not very strong ones. May have pith; not hollow at any rate. See a few bugs, but nothing too close. The folks putting a roof on the new house across the pond were pounding away and playing a radio -- a new sound in my sits. The peepers were active but not dominating at that time of day -- later at dusk they were a pure, jewelled chorus. My camera has gone to Hong Kong with Michele, so I may have to try my hand at drawing. I enjoy just sitting there, but I was tempted to play with my pastels today and capture the shades of yellow, brown and green. Today was about looking a lot at the new plants and colors, less about shifting from my usual "civilized human" state into that nature state with its own time.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Plant X



When crushed, smells like a tasty root, kind of crisp and earthy.

Sit spot day 18

Thats a shot of recent beaver activity. Glad they're back and fixed the dam up!


Wed April 1 (Day 18). 2:30 PM. Lightly overcast, with a steady light wind from the South very similar to last night's. Slightly mundane compared to the stars of night. A blackbird 'checking' at me, then later giving way to other sounds. Check ending with whistle, for example. Another bird, calling back and forth, then a robin's call. Splashing in the pond. Seemed to be a duck. A crow calls out, flying by, the first I see from this spot. Two more join it and they're gone. I catch myself squinting again. This isn't about glasses, this is habit. I think, stare and squint a bit. When I notice I relax and go 'round eyed' and open my awareness again. Then I notice I've closed my eyes and scrunched them up tight, and dont want to open them, so I let them scrunch for a while. Also I'm considering whether I can be aware of more than one sense at once. I listen hard. Then try to listen soft. Then realize it's cold out, although it's in the 40s its a damp chill. After a bit I examine Plant X, and decide it doesn't grow on a runner, each plant is individual, with roots followed by a stem followed by a node that looks like its wrapped around with string a bit, and then a whorl of leaves, quite a few. Divided leaves, or stems with lobed leaves, depending how you look at it. I pick up a whitened dead maple leaf to bring and examine for mildew and there, revealed, a purple flower bud. Beautiful. I know from previous years the beech tree has a blanket of blue flowers underneath it, this must be one of the first. It's smaller than a crocus bud. We'll see in a few days! No bugs today. Later the maple leaf, under a stereo microscope, shows nothing remarkable. Just whitened.