Week 10: Reflections

Part I:

Ode to the Douglas Fir:

Without arms, it reaches
Without voice, it teaches
That our lives are but a brief moment in time
Without skin, it feels
Without a word, it heals
Reminding us never give up on our climb

Turning the sunlight into all the colors of life

Ode to a Hummingbird:

Flurry, flurry!
Hurry, hurry!
Buzz, buzz!
Squeak, squeak!
“If I hover here,
Blackberry,
Give up to me your secret.
Make this worth my time,
For my time is fleeting!”

Ode to a Mushroom:

Covered shyly under your little hat
Do you not want me to take a peek?
I’m so sorry--
You just look good enough to eat

But I know what you’ll do
You’ll try to make me trust you
And somehow I want to
You’re a sneaky one, you

You think you’re so cool, hanging out in the shade
How long will you stay this time?
“I’ll show you what!” and I plucked you up
But even tucked away in my bag, you are still not mine

And I know what you’ll do
You’ll try to make me trust you
And somehow I want to
You’re a sneaky one, you

Part II: 

1) I think that at the beginning of the quarter, I chose Discovery Park thinking that it would be the only urban natural area big enough, with enough flora and fauna, to hold my interest for an entire quarter. But after we spent a few days revisiting only one area of the park, and I realized how fascinating things were on a micro-scale, the park's scope actually began to feel overwhelming. 

2) What I think is interesting is that my curiosity for Natural History began while studying biology in the tropics. But since there is no seasonality there, when I began to study Natural History here in the Pacific Northwest Springtime, I was almost more amazed to see the changes in phenology. Everything here seems perfectly timed to flower and fruit at the right to time to ease competition over resources, pollinators, etc. Learning how our climate, glacial history, and geological features in Washington create such different zones of vegetation made our area's biology seem so much more exotic than I had ever imagined it to be.

3) To intimately know a place means to me to know it as you would a person. You get to know it, what are its habits, its pretty parts, its ugly parts--you get emotionally involved. I get so excited when I go there now because I can go look and see if I will find a Spotted Towhee in the same place I saw it last week. And usually what happens is I see or find something completely new and wonderful instead. It makes me feel that learning in nature can be a never-ending process when you feel passionately for it.