I visited my phenology site on a very gloomy day. It was chilly and the wind was powerful. Even with these conditions, I was at peace when visiting my spot. As the wind blew, it caused the cattails to create a calming noise while being shaken by the wind. Sitting on the bridge and connecting with my site allowed me to take a few deep breaths and relax. I needed the time to just sit and connect with nature. I listened to a meditation and did breathing exercises as I was sitting there. After taking a break, I got on to drawing my site. When I first visited my spot I noticed the bright colors of the trees and the liveliness of the nature around me. Now going back, it was very dull and colorless. Taking a birds-eye view approach when looking at my site allowed me to observe more than I did before. Although my drawing is messy, it allows me to look at it from a different perspective and get a new appreciation for Centennial Woods.
When looking back at the vegetation at my site, I noticed many changes. As Burlington is moving from the fall slowly into the winter, the colors have changed drastically. The cattails surrounding the bridge are dry and brown, the trees are losing the bright fall colors, and the understory is starting to prepare for winter. Although the life of the fall colors is slowly starting to fade, my site still has life in it. The wind brought that back by creating music through the cattails and trees. The wind created a white noise that was peaceful and relaxing. I enjoyed sitting on the bridge and just listening to the sounds of nature that surrounded me.
My birds-eye view map is very messy but I feel like it captures what my site looks like. The bridge in the center is where I was sitting and observing my spot. The brook and bridge were surrounded by cattails and trees. The trail leading down to my spot goes downhill and the trail continuing after goes straight uphill. My spot is surrounded by hemlocks and pines on the outskirts and then smaller trees and cattails closer to the bridge. In my map, the large circles are the pines and hemlocks that are surrounding it. The smaller circles that are closer together are the smaller trees and brush. The short lines around the brook are the cattails. It was very difficult to get a full birds-eye view because there is so much around my spot that you cannot see. This was a very relaxing visit to my spot and I cannot wait to see it in the winter.