Thanksgiving Spot

Sadly, I did not go home to San Francisco for the break. Instead, I stayed with my friend Meg at her house in Scituate, Massachusetts.

here is the link to the map since I cannot embed the map for some reason

We arrived at night, so I did not see the amount of nature around us until the next morning. When I woke up and looked out the window, I was astounded and overwhelmed by the natural marsh that existed in her backyard.  

Surrounded by oak trees, the sunny November morning illuminated the entire marsh. We walked out there in knee high boots and warm coats. The natural wetland is fed by a local river. When the tide is really high, Meg and her family will sometimes canoe on it. The tide, that morning, was fairly high, so we could not go very far.

There was wildlife all around me- fish in the water and birds in the trees. I looked above me, into the clear sky. It was almost as if I was in a natural area, away from civilization. The ground below me was damp but also rough.  There was water everywhere. I do not think I have ever been in a natural marsh wetland- back at home there were marshes, but they were all man made. The wetlands we have seen in NR-1 have all been constructed. 

And then we saw something incredible! Meg called me over to look at deer scat! “it seems fresh” she said to me. I was so excited I took a lot of pictures. Scituate has a lot of forested areas surrounding the houses, so I assumed deer lived close by to the marsh. 

However, I could still hear cars when they passed by and all of the houses were clearly visible. 

In comparison to my place back in Burlington, there were many similarities. The first comparison that stood out to me was how they are both natural areas that are surrounded by humans. Centennial was originally and still is natural, but humans interact with it daily, and there are obvious signs of interaction (bridges, paths, and you can still hear cars driving past it). The same was here- there were houses surrounding the marsh, with one house that built a dock right onto the water. I could still hear cars driving past, even though it was a natural area. The second similarity I found was the water. Both of my spaces are dominated by water. The wildlife surrounds and depends on it. Back in centennial there is a larger variety of trees. I loved both of these places, especially the wetland in MA. Walking out to the water rejuvenated me. It was wonderful to look at the water, feel the wind on my face, the marsh under my feet. It had been a while since I have hiked in a river or a place similar to a river, and it was wonderful. I need to find a way to get into nature more often.