Date: June 11th
Weather: Pouring rain, then partly Sunny/overcast
Temperature: 65 Degrees
Location: Ravenna Park
Time: 12:00pm-2:00pm
Temperature: 65 Degrees
Location: Ravenna Park
Time: 12:00pm-2:00pm
FINAL JOURNAL ENTRY
Today at my site I looked at the magic of the creatures and the lush atmosphere that surrounded me instead of the names and terminology that I have come to know.
I ran into a creature that was swiftly moving from tree to tree, making itself known to the forest that surrounded it. Its orange breast made it stand out from all of the greenery. It made gestures that hinted that it knew I was there watching him. His voice was jolly and proud and was distinct from all of the other sounds around. As it sat in the tree he was calm and seemed to be enjoying his day. I wonder if he thought of me that same way in which I was thinking about him, mystified by his type and filled with a bunch of questions in which I will never get to ask him.
This was a beautiful sight. With its long green oval shaped bursts of green and its white fluffy patches, it took over a large amount of space within the area in which it grew. The white patches were soft to the touch and almost looked like little puffs of cotton candy. The burst of greens were smooth to the touch and had rivets that flowed throughout them.
Sprinkled throughout the forest there were a light green ferns, a lady fern to be specific. They extended their branches as if they were stretching their bodies to take up as much space as possible. They way in which they grew so close together made me think that it was for a purpose, as if they could not survive if they were alone. It felt like the ferns had come up with a migration plan to head towards the water, I pictured them dipping the tip of their leafs in order to test the temperature of the water before they maybe decided to cross. I felt that these ferns shared a common interest, similar to most human beings. This may sound a bit obscure but when I was little I used to lay outside and wish that I was different living things around me that appeared to live a much simpler life, like grass, a flower, my cat, etc. I used to imagine myself as these living creatures and it used to bring peace to my day almost as if the wish itself came true, just the thought of an alternative life was relaxing to me. The kid inside of me sees this lady fern and feels myself blowing in the wind and whispering to my neighbors.
FINAL REFLECTION
At the beginning of this quarter I had quite a different perception of my site (Ravenna Park). Everything within it was unknown to me and enchanted. At first, I thought park of the enchantment was a result of not knowing anything that surrounded me, I figured that once I was able to identify some species that the park would then lose some of its initial magic. I was wrong. As I got to know my site a lot better, the area became even more enchanted than previously thought. I began to feel as if I was an integral part of the forest. With every new discovery, my excitement grew. When you get entangled in everyday life, you start to lose sight of what is physically surrounding you i.e trees, birds, flowers, etc. There was so much to explore at my site that I never wanted to leave whereas at the start of this quarter, I was still trapped in the mindset that I was in this park just because I had to complete a certain task. Once I had opened myself up and began to get in touch with my curiosities, my perception of this site and what it meant to me was completely different. Ravenna Park is truly a desirable place and a refuge within the city of Seattle.
My sense of the Puget Sound region has changed throughout this quarter in that this class only made me appreciate this region more. We are extremely spoiled and fortunate to live in such a beautiful area like Seattle. We have water, mountains, forests, and the city. Not many places in the country can say that they have all of those things, let alone even two of those things. There are times that I want to move away from Seattle but I quickly realize after retreating 2 hours in basically ANY direction to the mountains or any sort of wild life area, that the Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest overall, has everything that I could ever ask for. It is truly unique in that regard. I thought highly of the Puget Sound prior to this class but like most things in life that you take a closer look at, it accelerated my previous notions. If anything, this class has just reaffirmed my love for this area. I would like to think that I am not bias but I completely am when it comes to this region. I think everyone should at least visit this area of the country. I have traveled around the country quite a bit growing up and I have yet to see a place that stood out more than Seattle does. One thing that I think is very telling of this area is that we tend to have a lot of people living in the city that were not born and raised here. From the people I have talked to, they said that once they came here, they loved it and never wanted to leave.
Personally, what it means to intimately know a natural place is to gain something within from being in that natural place. That may sound a bit confusing but to elaborate further, I believe that if a natural place has the ability to cause an emotional reaction, than that natural place becomes "known" to you. It might not be known to you in a literal sense but more so in a figurative sense. I do not think it is important if you know the species names or latin names, I think what is more important is the appreciation that you hold when you visit a natural area. When I go to a natural area, I feel like I know the area because everything around me is a living being that is apart of my lifetime, as I am apart of theirs. We were all designed by nature and bred to ask questions about it, it may not ever be possible to know nature fully, but it is possible to understand it and feel it. To "know" something or someone seems like a relevant term to me. Who cares if I know it or not, as long as the relationship that exists is important should be all that matters.
