Town Forest Park

Sadly, I did not find many animal foot prints in the snow because it was snowing!

Here is the Town Forest Park Map and info

Here’s a bridge we had to cross to get to my spot, super scary because it was covered in ice! It also made some creaking sounds when we walked on it…

I found this lowered branch super cool because it was almost touching the ground because of the weight of the snow.

Past the trees is the marsh that became frozen over, not sure where the beavers are 🙁

Speaking of beavers, here’s the chewed up tree covered in snow!

This is the generator/ water facility, also now covered in snow!

These are the only animal tracks that I could identify, seems to be mice that live in the holes in the ground right in the center of the picture.

This is a cool little overhang in the side of the hill (I probably could fit my hand in there) probably created by erosion. I was wondering if something small might take shelter in there…

Lastly, here is my adventure buddy 😀

I also took some film photos that I hope to develop soon…

Town Forest Park, Simsbury CT

My new spot is in a park very near my house called Town Forest Park. Surprisingly, for how long I’ve lived here, I’ve never been in these parts of the woods. It was so beautiful and I am practically beating myself up for never exploring back there before. To get to my spot, I took an unmarked trail that led to a small bridge back onto a more traveled, marked trail. The view was amazing, of very tall grasses in a bog on one side of the trail, and deep old woods on the other side.

On the side with the tall grasses, there were tall, skinny Eastern White Pines growing in the water, they could either be young trees, or older trees with their growth stunted by the fact that they are planted in the middle of a bog. There were trees lining the edge of the water, all new growth (under 9 inches in diameter). There was Hemlock, Paper Birch and Red Oak.

On the side of the trail with the woods, most of the trees were HUGE, and not much new tree growth. There also was not much forest ground growth. For clarification, there were not many bushes or ferns or vines. The trees were far apart, most likely because they were so large and do not allow any new trees to fill the empty spaces with their large canopy. The most common tree is the Eastern White Pine, Hemlock, and then I saw some Red Oaks. I did not see any white oak trees, but I saw some white oak leaves on the ground.

Now to my favorite part of what I saw in this area… I saw evidence of a beaver living in the bog. I have attached pictures of two trees that have had their trunks chewed through. I also saw a heron in the water as well, he looked very still as of he was waiting to catch a fish. He was sadly too far for me to get a good picture of him.

There was also a man made bunker that looks like it has been there for a while. There is land built up around it, as if its underground. The land on top of the building has been there long enough for small trees to be growing in it. The building says “public water supply” on it, so I am wondering if the town takes water from the bog for residential use.

Here is the location of my spot. The area I was walking along was the dotted line starting at the area near the 17, and then walking down alone the body of water along the thick dotted line. The brown areas are neighborhoods, so the area is practically surrounded by human development.

Event Map

Because you probably cannot read that...

Swinging here,

in this empty space

a void in time. 

Slowly the sounds 

come into existence 

surrounding me.

The trees grow above  

until they tower over.

The birds use these giants

as their play ground.

The grasses die before me

as the sun sets.

The birds, also,

use this graveyard 

as their homestead.

The Barberry's leaves 

have disappeared, but

I do not see 

any birds playing 

on such a bush. 

(I made a few changes to the poem as I was typing this out) 

A Birds Eye View

An aerial view of my spot 🙂

Sorry it is kind of simple, I tried my best with the details I guess.

More updates about the area: I have noticed more cattails have burst open, letting their fuzz fly everywhere. The leaves of the Barberry bush turned orange and most of the leaves have fallen off. This change was surprising and unexpected because the last time I had visited the bush still had green leaves. The trees are way more bare, Centennial Woods changes significantly every time I visit it. There were also more pine needles covering the ground, which coincidentally covered my flannel when I set it down. The Paper Birch no longer has any leaves on it and the White Oak is still barely holding onto the last of it’s foliage. With the more time I have spent at my spot, I have been able to experience more wildlife. Obviously I have gotten visits from the passing squirrel or chipmunk, but this time I spent admiring the birds. From where I was sitting I could see two species of birds. One was most definitely a Blue Jay, the other one was small and brown, though I do not know its specific species type. I had a good time watching the birds jumping from grass blade to the ground, then back up to another blade of grass. It was nice to be surrounded with silence sometimes filled with the chirps of these grass birds. It was a place that I felt comfortable taking my mask off in. I was able to smell autumn. I believe the sense of smell is the strongest human sense when it comes to inducing nostalgia. I spent my time reminiscing and enjoying the specific smell of the fallen leaves surrounding me. This project forces me to get out in nature and clear my head, and I will never complain about it.

First time exploring my spot

Originally, I did not necessarily want to find a sit spot in Centennial woods, but my first location for a sit spot did not work out because of a hornets nest in a tree that was larger than my head. So, I chose something in Centennial woods instead. I got to this place by crossing the stream that is next to the first very large Eastern White Pine tree clearing. I went along the path on the other side of the stream until I came upon a small circular clearing. Behind some trees in the clearing is a huge muddy field with cattails and other tall grasses. I thought this was an interesting dynamic to explore, so I became content with the area. Some noticeable species were Barberry, Paper Birch, White Oak, many Hemlock trees, American Beech, and Eastern White Pine. These species were all in close proximity to each other, all surrounding the small clearing. A lot of sounds were coming from the muddy field, I heard some crickets and a constant droning of maybe a frog. I also saw some small birds landing on the tall grasses as well. I sat down on the pine needles in the clearing and thought for a little while. These thoughts produced a small poem:

Finally,

a spot I feel content with

not completely alone

but alone enough

I hope for this spot to be

a constant

in my ever changing

life.