It is June 1st, at 2:45pm and I just got out of work and arrived here. The weather has been consistent the last two times I have gone here, with bright blue skies and a few clouds floating overhead.
As I’m here I walk to the waterline facing south, away from the Bridge, now facing the new one as cars and 18-wheeler trucks occasionally drive over it. Here I sat down watching the water flow out and under the bridge and hearing the symphony of bug buzzes in the air. I watch the multicolored dragonflies buzz about the top and watch as sticks and small debris flow underneath the bridge, where for some reason a lone rope sways, hanging in the center of the bottom of the bridge. I wonder about how dragonflies get so many colors as I recall wondering that same question on my first day. I had never paid so much attention to dragonflies before, their diversity is really astounding. I spotted one with a glittering blue body as it hovers without effort and then darts away from me in a moments time. Some fly by with their bodies connected as well, I wonder if it is a mating tactic or ritual? As they buzz around I notice a sort of pattern in their flying as it seems they patrol specific areas, possibly hunting for smaller insects (do they even eat other insects) or looking for a place to rest. A particularly large dragonfly with a metallic green body returns over and over again to land on reeds close to me.
One plant that I found looked interesting and that I had no idea what it was, was a lone bushel of Yorkshire Fog I believe, which was stuck out of a crack in the asphalt surrounded by fallen leaves. Its full name is Holcus Lanatus and I have seen it in other fields around my town, particularly in the ones people have by their houses. When I researched about it I found that it is native to Europe and actually invasive here in the Americas, but a more fun one is that the base of the stem has a stripped pink appearance which led to people calling it the “pink striped pajamas”.
Going to email you the photos, they are on my phone and I have no idea how to put them in like I did for my first wonderblog. Sorry.
Sketching for this felt disheartening at many points as, in my head, I am a failed artist and in this case, felt disappointed in my ability to sketch the beauty I saw in person. I do really like the idea of it and the process of doing it as it gets me to give more attention to the detail of what I am actually seeing and as I draw I see certain trees or details that would have gone unnoticed in my eyes.