Even though the landscape really hasn’t changed since the last time I was here, it was hard to find my way to my spot the second time around. Buds and small leaves have begun to appear on the underbrush and the pale green blur all around me is a definite change from last time. The other most noticeable difference from last time is the color of the small pool adjacent to the stream. The stream is still its usual muddy brown, but the pool has a blue-ish green tinge. The color is localized to the pool, suggesting that whatever is adding the color is coming out of the pipe that runs underneath the facilities parking lot. Speaking of the pipe, I managed to answer my earlier question about the water’s source. I saw on a map of our campus’s watershed, a small blue line that indicates a stream running south to north on our campus and in the direction of the facilities building. I still have not looked for the stream itself, but that will be an adventure for a warmer time in the future.
Signs of life, other than the little leaves on the myriad of plants, are still as sparse as last time, because the primary noises are coming from the stream and the water falling from the pipe. The occasional bird does flutter across my vision as it flits between different branches in the tangled underbrush, and I sometimes hear one call out in the distance.
Since our recent meeting with Ralph White, I have been thinking a fair amount about the individual connection to nature and how we can achieve this without compromising nature for everyone. Having my own little secluded reflection spot, even though it is technically open to everyone, is a much more intense experience now, than it was before this past Wednesday’s class because I have chosen to come here, whereas others have not bothered to venture off the pavement. Ralph White’s passion for the outside world and for the Richmond community in general is inspiring and has made me look for connections to nature wherever I happen to be walking or standing.
Very little of the actual landscape has changed since my last visit to this spot, but my attitude certainly has. Spring is definitely coming soon, but it is not quite here yet. I am looking forward to visiting this spot again in the late spring before I leave for the summer and trying to piece together what has changed and what has stayed the same since my first visit early this semester.
