“To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” This quote really struck a chord with me, in the that it made me recognize that Blunn Creek has so many different variables in what makes it behave and survive the way it does. So this week, I thought I would do a comparison to another nature preserve, while also comparing Blunn Creek to previous weeks.
I found that my sister loves to hike on a particular trail called McKinney Falls and what hike is better than dogs? As we set out to McKinney Falls, I noticed the weather warm and dry, rare for a late November in Texas. When arriving, the base attributes were quite similar to Blunn Creek, dry, lots of ground level shrubbery, and a strange mixture of trees; however when looking closer the cacti, and trees had a distinctly different property of the curvature in bark and cacti petals. It seemed to be more swirled, while at Blunn Creeks a lot of the bark on tree’s is linear.
We began to wonder were we would have our peaceful nature session, we found a writing in the sand saying “Rock Party” which was undeniable invitation to sit. As we found our little stoop to observe, the two feindish dogs began to bark, and point wit their noses are what seemed to be a wild creature. As they sprinted off it seemed that the animal both small trashcan sized dogs chased was a squirrel (or some derivative of). It was strange to see a dometiscated animal in a mild state of “beast.” Not that it is a commentary on the training of my sisters dogs, but in general, seeing a dog in its nature is scary. In the blink of an eye one dog had ended up in a small pond and one next to a cactus.Once we recovered them both, we began to circle back around. The minute differences between the two geographically close nature preserves.
The next day, I decided to go to my usual stoop in Blunn Creek. When I sat down at the small creek, the serenity that was usually there didn’t seem present. It seemed tense, and everything in Blunn Creek seemed to be silent. The wind whispered through the creek, but it just seemed dry and tired. The parched Blunn Creek had slight winter spice, which is what I believe caused the small forest to be so eerily quite.It is so interesting to finally see the seasonal character emobdied into senses other than sight. As the semester comes to a close, I hope see a much more exaggerated what I saw this week to fully feel the winter’s kiss. As it begins to get cool i really look forward to seeing how Blunn Creek adapts itself to accommodate the cold. Yes, leaves may fall and things may look dead, but that is general description. I’m really looking for how these descriptions alter the life within the forest.
