Today I sat on the lawn in front of Main Building overlooking the Austin skyline. It is a warm April afternoon. The temperature sits at a humid 83O F at approximately 4:00 PM. It is mostly cloudy with slight wind from the south. There is limited human foot traffic with the exception of one family of a perspective. They are in awe by the beauty of the view and the husky oak trees surrounding them. The oak trees sway in the wind.
I walked over to feel the tree. In all my time at this university, I have not yet analyzed them. Tree identification has always been in particular interest since I took a forestry class in high sch
ool. The bark has a distinct texture. The leaves have a glossy and dark green appearance and smooth to the touch. Some of them were toothed. The bark is rough like sandpaper. A couple squirrels were running into the tree while I am analyzing. The grass around me was green in an unnerving way because of my knowledge about the recent drought. It is not healthy for the grass to be so green under these circumstances as suggested by Aldo Leopold in A Sand Sand County Almanac. He states that weather conditions are a major factor with selecting plant life when he states that “when water systems exhibit abnormal floods and shortages, the land is sick (P. 194).” The St. Edwards community need to adapt its grass life to fit the existing climate.
