“Have you ever looked up?” Uttered by Queen Latifa in the movie The Last Holiday. This quote was the last technological contact I had before setting out on my first week of nature observation at Austin’s Blunn Creek. While I’m not one to chew on quote for more than a brief moment, this one seemed too coincidentally placed to be over looked. As I trotted outside, I felt the scathing heat on the back of my neck. As soon as scurried to shade, I felt the quote dig it’s way into my thoughts. So I looked up. My sweaty head up cranked up towards my savior/shelter, and I immediately found a little sliver of comfort. Blunn Creek had welcomed me into her home with comfort and shade.
The more and more I dug into Blunn Creek the more comfortable I became. The heat didn’t seem to bother me as much, and I became increasingly infatuated with the idea of Mother Nature just telling me to chill out. I stooped under a tree and got a chance to drop the sand bags of school and just sit and nothing else. My little nook under the graffitied tree had become my sanctuary, and my area of observation for the following weeks.
The following weeks, the small journey to my new home seemed to feel more serene from the last. Just knowing a place that brings a separation from everything is more a motivator than I had anticipated. I began finding myself excited to go to my forrested stoop.
Each week the plants came alive more, the color of the prickly pears emitted a vibrant pink that would shame the panther. The sunflowers show just a little bit more of a goldenrod yellow to entice me. Trying to be poetic with plants and nature, I know, ground breaking. But once it is experienced, a gorgeous nature, things have more life, more color, more enthusiasm. Nature has a strange way of keeping up focused on her true allure.
Even though the tone of the preserve was a parched and arid, the ecosystem seemed to trudge on and blossom more beautifully each week. Then it rained. A lot. Too much for it be okay, at least for my liking. But I still found myself headed to my tree. What was even more of a curve ball was as soon as I stepped outside, the sun decided to take the stage for just a short couple of hours. I once again sat and saw how just a torrential down poor effected the wildlife. It was a tad bit eerie not hearing any of the sounds of the forrest kind of spooked me out. I thought I was going to get mowed down by a coyote or a bear. None the less, Blunn Creek has adopted me into her home and I cannot wait to see what she will show me next time I go knocking at her door. I guess looking up was more interesting than I thought. I just hope that we can retain the beauty across the board. “In farm country, the plover has only two real enemies: the gully and the drainage ditch. Perhaps we shall one day find that these are our enemies, too.” 
This is Zanira. She is my body guard from all nature’s creature a like.
