On my final visit to Centennial Woods this semester, the air was cold and it was quite cloudy out. It had just rained and caused the blanket of snow to melt, so unfortunately it was impossible to find any animal tracks in the snow. The rain had caused the water level in Centennial Brook to rise a significant amount, and it was flowing at the fastest rate I have seen throughout the course of my visits. The leaves from all the trees have finally fallen, leaving a barren canopy with only a few areas interspersed by green where Eastern White Pines and other conifers are growing. The space looked a lot more open and I was able to see an area across the river that I’d never seen before since it had previously been blocked by leaves of vines, bushes, and trees. Looking to the down rather than to the canopy, leaves that had fallen and covered the ground were beginning to rot and decompose. There were very few signs of animal life, and the stream was now free of all fish and insects that had been abundant in the water during my previous visits.