I visited my spot in East Woods once more before leaving. As soon as I entered the trail, there was a strong floral smell that wasn’t there before. There was new buckthorn by the trail entrance as well old buckthorn that was beginning to leaf again. The biggest change was that there were hundreds of sprouts extending over much of the ground.

There is usually almost no herbaceous plants in East Woods, mostly trees and bushes. On closer inspection I found that they were mayflowers.

Other updates include new sapling sightings. I saw black cherry trees as well as some honeysuckle. American beechs were budding, with their distinctive slender brown buds. At my actual spot there were more holes in the main dead tree, which I believe are the doing of pileated woodpeckers. More moss had grown on the downed trees that were still damp from the rainfall.

It’s a bittersweet end to another semester and visiting session for my spot. I’ve especially loved seeing the panoramas change with the seasons as the landscape serves as a special kind of calendar.

Nature and culture intertwine most in the fact that my spot is a part of a trail, in a managed natural area. It is heavily influenced by its visitors and by the busy road that runs up against it. Potash brook is surrounded by steep declines in the woods that invite runoff from the impermeable surfaces nearby to influence the water quality of the brook and ultimately the lake. Not only to visitors interact with the woods via recreation, but also by how their lives intersect with them.

I approach the woods with a lens of NR2, and as myself, someone learning the spot and its changes. Others approach the woods as a place for their kids to play, a place to bird, a place of peace by the brook. I consider myself a part of the place because I consider everyone to be a part of it. We influence East Woods and my spot within it with our steps, our knowledge, and our intentions.