“The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum, the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playful swirls, and the wind hurries on.” – A Sand County Almanac page 66
November 11, 2013
It is two weeks into November and yet the temperature was nearly 75 degrees. It was pleasant out, at least in the sunshine today. In the shade with the wind it was just a little bit cold, but that’s normal as the weather starts to cool down. Although considering it is November, sometimes I’m surprised to see as many animals out and about, but that may just be due to how many winters I have spent up north were many animals either go south or into hiding once the weather drops. Most of the grass has kept its green color, but leaves on the trees are starting to turn brown as the fall starts to move in. Hopefully we will be able to keep decent weather for a little bit longer.
November 22, 2013
I have no idea where the warm weather went, but it is long gone. I was out just last night at around 11:30 PM and it was close to 85 degrees. But today it has yet to get out of the thirties. With the wind chill it is 34 degrees. While I appreciate the cold, and of course after hot summer weather that is Texas, I would like a little more warning that a dramatic drop in temperature over night from the 80s to the 30s. I’m not too surprised that most of the animals I have seen today though have just been a few squirrels and the stray cats on campus. I think the birds got smart and stayed in today. It is rainy and wet and cold, not exactly ideal conditions for animals or humans to be out and about. The weather is supposed to stay cold, so my weekend plans have certainly changed to staying inside instead of trying to brave the cold weather. I am a northerner at heart, but winter clothes for Texas are much different than winter clothes for the north.
Over the course of the last three months I have visited three places, once in my neighborhood around my house, Ladybird Lake, and St. Edward’s campus. Even though I visited several different places it was still cool to see the different diversity, and how animals act. Especially the difference in behavior of animals in the three places, around campus squirrels and birds don’t seem to be as scared as humans due to the fact that we are pretty much around all the time here. But in my neighborhood and around Ladybird Lake they are still skittish of people. I feel like it is because even though there are people around the lake a lot, and the people who live in the neighborhood are always around, they do not really take pleasure in the animals and prefer to scare them off, while on campus we either ignore them or watch them from a distance. The erratic temperatures that I took note of while doing this blog shouldn’t really surprise me, Texas and everywhere else always has erratic weather at some point. I really did enjoy doing this blog, and I think I will attempt to go out and do more nature watching in the future, because sometimes you just need to step back and enjoy the wonders around us. Even if it is a simple as watching squirrels chase each other, there is a sense of relaxation when sitting out in the wonder that is nature around us.