7 October 2022: It was a beautiful sunny day today as I biked to my phenology spot in Centennial woods. I sat on the small bridge that crossed Centennial brook and took 15 minutes to use my senses and engage with the beauty of my surroundings. The wind was strong today, so most of my silent listening observations were interrupted by continuous gusts of high-speed winds, but for a few, I captured the wonderful bird noises of what sounded like a Chickadee and an American Robin. I sat on the bridge and listened to the calming ripples of water quickly passing under my feet and felt the sun’s warmth hitting my face. I felt at peace sitting in this area the wonderful sounds, sights, and nature smells created a very warm meditative environment and I believe this quality time I spent admiring the space in the woods helped me connect better with the land.
As I looked around I noticed some key differences with the spot since my previous visit, most of it with the vegetation in the area. The last time I was in Centennial woods the trees were covered with colorful leaves, but now all but the pines were bare and it felt like the brook was receiving a lot more sunlight than before. As the leaves fell they covered the trail and were scattered across the brook but now I noticed that not many leaves were in or near the brook at all. It looks like the wind or rain carried all the leaves in the area into the deep woods and off the trail. The grass is still long and overgrown along the trail and around the river, but with the leaves gone from the tree, I can now get a better view of the prominent tree species in the area. I see mostly Eastern White Pine as the trail continues up along the hill, and sugar maples in the distance. I more intensive tree analysis of the area will be gathered in the next blog post. I also hope to do a soil and water test in the near future.
