9/24/22 (Written 9/27/22)

My initial goals were ambitious. 30 minutes, three times each work week. 1 hour each weekend. Spend this time being mindful, observing, documenting, and investigating nature. I spent about five hours that Thursday (9/22) with my undergraduates, observing an environmental education program put on by Shaver's Creek for 3rd graders. Initially, I didn't think this time would count toward being in nature and observing, because I wasn't identifying species as I had originally listed as a goal. However, 3 hours in, I realized that I was focused on the kids and their enjoyment of nature. I had forgotten about the tasks I had to accomplish that day and the next and the next. I was "at peace", even if only for a short while. Watching the students find leaves on the ground to journal about gave me pause. I took this time to also journal about a leaf I had found on the ground. After reflection, I have decided that it is ok I missed this first journal post. I'm doing it now and I'm ok with that. The days are still fresh in my mind.

On Saturday (9/24), I decided I would garden for a few hours, which turned into weeding for over 5 hours and getting a nice blister on the center of my right hand from using the ... Hold on a moment, while I look at what the actual name for the tool I've used since I was a kid is called. Oh wow, it is called a weeder tool. How appropriate. I didn't listen to music. I just focused on clearing english ivy and other ivy off a path we want to put gravel down on. We have been trying to remove as much english ivy as possible, but with the amount in our yard, it seems impossible. I enjoyed my time. It was harder to focus on enjoying my time compared to the field trip. I felt very aware of the passage of time and it made me anxious. After about 3 hours, I noticed a teeny tiny mushroom. I got excited and immediately thought about how I should document it and try to ID it. Even if it was wrong, I was hoping to rely on the iNaturalist community to tell me what it actually was. A milky conecap is what I found (so I think). I learned it is toxic (likely), and can sometimes grow in mulch woodchips after a hard rain. This was exactly the case. This delicate mushroom caught my attention and for 10 minutes I observed it, and noticed things about it. I took pictures of it and even showed my spouse. I got excited by this one non-cultivated find in my yard and looked for more things to document. And I found more! The giant black-staining polypores in the middle of our front yard cropped up in the same places last year at this same time of year. We pulled them up last year because they were killing our grass and part of the manicured ground cover. None of which we planted. We prefer to let nature be. We still mow, but not often. This year, I decided to let them be, except for the two I tripped over walking to take a picture of the largest ones.

I spent 30 minutes today logging all these species and putting them into the app. I also used other apps like a mushroom finder app to help with those. The Seek app struggled with IDing my mushrooms for some reason. I went on here to check if any of my observations had been verified once or twice (bringing them to research grade quality). They hadn't but I don't mind. I really enjoy documenting things even if it's just for me. It transports me back to a place and time when I was excited about something small on this planet. As I was looking through a few other people's observations to verify them, I saw someone posted a dragonfly and their location was the east coast of Russia. It gave me pause. All I hear on the news and in the media is about the war. To think, there is someone who was still looking for insects in this chaotic world, made me feel... it made me feel alright. There is always chaos around you, and sometimes there is chaos in your own life, your own mind, but for this community, focusing on something specific is where you can really find peace.

I have assignments that are late, but I am taking the time to write this post. Getting into a different headspace is healthy and sometimes you need to put yourself and your mental health before things like a grade. I'm getting better at accepting this. It only makes me feel better. I'm glad I will never run out of things to explore in the natural world.

Posted on September 28, 2022 03:43 AM by megn_martin