Over my spring break I returned home to Ithaca NY, my home town. Full disclosure, towards the beginning of the week I was not very excited to get out into a natural area. I returned home to cold temperatures, and wet, muddy, rainy weather. Yet when I woke up at the crack of 2:30pm on Thursday, I was amazed to step outside and feel a gentle spring breeze accompanied by rejuvenating rays of sunshine. Overnight it had warmed up to 60F and I immediately went on a stroll to one of my favorite natural areas.

Directly below Cayuga lake is Stewart Park, a boring combination of fields, swings, and goose droppings. Although just west of the park is a very pleasant trail, surrounded running along the inlet, by a beautiful area full of woodpeckers and willow trees. I decided that I would walk this trail hoping to find a nice spot to complete this assignment. On my walk, I ran into mostly squirrels, and one very rude looking skunk which I promptly avoided. About halfway along the inlet, a few hundred yards from the park I found a more open, and dry area to stay in for a while. During my time there I could immediately see a contrast between this site and my phenology site in Burlington. The willow trees stood tall and proud, surrounded by various plants including honeysuckle, and what I believe to be flowering buckthorn. I think this pretty accurately shows a difference in my sites; as my Burlington spot, redstone pines simply contains some eastern white pines, which stand alone, scarred by hammock straps, and shamefully surrounded by peoples trash. This is a due to the differing histories of these areas. The trail in Ithaca simply cuts through this natural area, which is right next to water, and leads towards a park. On the other hand, it is clear that the redstone pines are simply placed in the middle of a bunch of buildings, impermeable surfaces, and are victim to much unwanted foot traffic.

I will definitely be returning to this spot over summer, as it was a relaxing and almost surreal experience. On a nice summer evening this walk could be a great way to really see that we are only here as guests on earth, and there is still faith that we can be somewhat gracious to the natural world during our stay.

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