15-Day Sit Spot Challenge: Days 3 and 4, November 9 and 10, 2018

15-Day Sit Spot Challenge

Days #3 and #4

November 9 and 10, 2018

Continuing the saga, via the Wilderness Awareness School Sit Spot Challenge.

Please see my previous blog entry for an introductory explanation.

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Day #3

November 9, 2018

Early afternoon, after 1:00 pm Eastern Standard

From the last page of Farming: A Hand Book, by Wendell Berry:

To the Unseeable Animal

"My daughter: 'I hope there's an animal somewhere that nobody has ever seen.

And I hope nobody ever sees it.'"

Being, whose flesh dissolves

at our glance, knower

of the secret sums and measures,

you are always here,

dwelling in the oldest sycamores,

visiting the faithful springs

when they are dark and the foxes

have crept to their edges.

I have come upon pools

in streams, places overgrown

with the woods' shadow,

where I knew you had rested,

watching the little fish

hang still in the flow;

as I approached they seemed

particles of your clear mind

disappearing among the rocks.

I have waked deep in the woods

in the early morning, sure

that while I slept

your gaze passed over me.

That we do not know you

is your perfection

and our hope. The darkness

keeps us near you.

Wendell Berry

Prompt for Day #3: What is drawing your attention and curiosity the most so far? Of all the living beings around you, which do you feel the most connections with?

The day was icy cold and overcast, the wind gusting. Leaves were raining steadily down from the trees. The woodland floor was crunchy – it was impossible to move quietly.

Raining leaves

As I started down the slope below the house, I heard a loud squeak-snort from the other side of the woods, not far from my Sit Spot.

I knew it was a deer, warning me. I did not see any deer, though – maybe a barely detectable movement as it took off to the north.

By the time I worked my way over to the Sit Spot, there were no signs of deer, except for some divots in the soft soil, along the deer trail, made by their hooves.

Where the deer was

Most of the year, I can clearly see the deer trail, and deer signs on the trail. But now they are obliterated by the constantly increasing pile of fallen leaves.

Looking east - deer trail

Deer trail - looking toward the entrance from the road

As I sat at my Sit Spot, the environment was very quiet. There was some chattering of birds behind me, some peeps and chirps. I heard the back-up beeping of a machine far away. Silas purred quietly beside me on the log.

Silas

Krampus!

Scratched place on log where squirrel was two days ago

What draws my attention and curiosity the most in this spot? What being do I feel the most connection with?

The one I don't see, or whose movements I barely detect. The one whose sound I hear, somewhere, but cannot attach a visible form to it. The one that left some signs of where it was, where it was going, what it was doing.

I am a quiet person, myself. I do not like attention brought to myself. But, it is important to me that people notice, and learn from, the things I do. Just, not me personally.

I love to move quietly through Life, the wisps of what I've been doing just barely visible, for others to notice, to draw them in via curiosity, so that they will explore and discover, open up their worlds. I leave signs for people to figure out, to learn from. I find that helping them along in this way is more effective than putting something clearly in front of them.

In these ways, I identify most with the “unseeable animals” in my midst.

Large ash tree with elephantine base, seen from Sit Spot

Day #4

November 10, 2018

After 1:00 pm Eastern Standard

Prompt for Day #4: Starting in on the weekend, notice how change in routine affects your spot and your experience at your spot.

Optional Weekend Challenge: without using digital tools, draw a map of your spot and its surroundings, out to about 100 feet in diameter.

We had light snow the night before, but it didn't stick. However, it was cold, and I could have been wiser in the choice of my outerwear. But, after awhile my body adjusted to the cold.

Many more leaves had fallen overnight, too, and during the morning, and they were still constantly falling while I was at my Sit Spot. They sounded like light rain falling all around me, and plopping to the ground. It was, of course, a rather noisy walk to the spot.

Leaves on my woodland floor - how many do you recognize?

View to the west from Sit Spot

The woods had become much less dense, so I could see through it more readily - it also seemed smaller. I could see the clear blue sky, and sunlight had direct access to the woods floor. Sights and sounds were both clearer.

One's perceptions of the surrounding environment can change with the changes in the environment – visual perceptions, sounds, etc. My eye caught motions among the trees. Were they darting birds, or falling leaves? As the density of woodland changes, the detection of the location of sounds changes, also.

I heard the chattering of a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. It came to a dead Black Cherry tree near me and worked over the bark, looking for snacks. I could hear a White-Breasted Nuthatch calling somewhere, and the light, rapid staccato of smaller woodpeckers. There was a faint tapping, but I didn't know what that was.

Can you find the Red-Bellied Woodpecker in the Black Cherry tree? Hint: it's only the silhouette.

Since Richard retired, weekend days have blurred on the edges into the regular weekdays. By choice, I like it that way. I like working and living through regular days, and tend to not like the interruption of holidays. So, it is hard to say anything about a “change of routine” related to a weekend. The only real way that would change is if we had weekend company.

And, now, here is my map (keep in mind that I am surrounded by trees here):

My Sit Spot log, seen from the southeast