May: Final Reflection

As we get further into spring, all the trees have branches nearly covered in beautiful green buds (Figure 4). Most fall and cover my driveway, but it nice to be reminded of the beautiful weather. We are starting to see more signs of wildlife as well. It had rained the other day, and we saw a muddy footprint belonging to a raccoon on our front porch (Figure 5). I was able to determine it was a raccoon because you could see the shape of its thumb and the nails in the footprint. The grass in our backyard is becoming greener as well (Figure 6). After the winter the grass starts of very yellow and dead, and often stays like this for a couple months. Now, it is starting to look green and full again. Our peony plants are starting to grow taller and they will flower next month in June. The arborvitaes that line our driveway are starting the gain their very small pine cones (Figure 1). There are very large moss patches growing in the soil around the trees on the side of our house, and they are slowly beginning to climb the bottom of their trunks (Figure 3). The climbing hydrangea in our back yard has started to gain more leaves and the buds for flowers are beginning to grow (Figure 2).

I really enjoyed this project because I liked to see how the seasons and weather changed one spot overtime. It feels like yesterday I was analyzing the soil after it snowed and looking for animal tracks. I think it was really helpful to learn the different processes in nature and how they affect the wildlife. It allowed me to think deeper about the behavior of the wildlife and what they might be doing to cause their tracks to appear in that manner. I thought it was a good way to put everything into perspective and understand the cycle of nature.