WEEK 7

Wednesday, May 18th
6:00– 6:50 PM
56˚ and Cloudy, off and on drizzling

Orange salmon berry

Dull Oregon Grape fruit

So this is probably the first time I've been out here on a shitty day. I'm shivering and a little wet but the forest seems indifferent. For some reason it seems like all the plants made a mutual decision during the week to go all out on their fruit production. Out of nowhere all of the salmon berries are bright orange and ready to eat. Little patches of color are scattered everywhere– I had no idea salmon berries were so abundant in the area until now. I tasted one and it was delicious– still a little sour of course but that's how I like them. A dull oregon grape plant I've been keeping my eye is making huge moves too, stuntin' with it's clumps of light green berries that I hadn't noticed before. The samaras on the bigleaf maples have made progress since last I noticed them too– they're much larger and appear more or less fully formed now. Finally, the fruit of the Indian Plum that I've been observing has turned from light green to bright, almost fluorescent yellow that sticks out like a frat boy in a gender studies colloquium.

Near fully formed samara

Yellow Indian Plum fruit

As my biology major mom pointed out, this isn't a good time for bugs, so invertebrates were very hard to find. It's early in the spider season calendar, which peaks around halloween, so I found quite a few Garden Spiders but they were babies– so tiny that some were barely visible to the naked eye. I watched one cross from one branch of a tree sapling to another, suspended above the ground on a nearly invisible thread. It was very light yellow– nearly translucent. I've always found it weird that Seattle is such a spider infested city– it seems so random. I hate spiders so I'm savoring these spring months where they're all so tiny that they're almost (not quite) cute.

The next invertebrate I found was a pretty basic one– a pill bug. Actually, a few dozen of them, all scurrying for cover when I brushed away a patch of mulch. The one I focused on had a dark grey outer shell that was divided into 8 segments, and I counted 7 pairs of legs. I picked one up and it immediately curled into a ball, protecting it's vulnerable body with the hard exoskeleton.

Next I found a slug whose dull brown body was covered in black speckles. It A curved line seemed to seperate one part of it's body (a head?) from the other, which had two distinct black stripes down the length of it. It had antennae although they were so small that you can't see them in the picture. I had a very hard time identifying it– apparently the northwest is home to an insane variety of slug species– but I think it was a Giant Garden Slug.

I found a millipede that I couldn't identify either. I've never seen one like it here– I'm used to the ones that have yellow stripes going down on either end. but this one was jet black, with rounded segments in it's body. There were too many segments and leg pairs to count, but the way it moved was really interesting. It was quick, and it slid across the ground like water– effortless motion.

And Now, A Poem

Why do you hide?

I see you

Absurd cave

cosmopalongo

you have nothing to fear

I listen

of
conversion,
subduction;

all you knew was foam

all you knew was hate,

and
knowing foam

as insulation

as isolation

You can't stay
away

You know
foam

and thats all you know

of white

and white

and maybe that is

wrong
but

you are safe

and that is all that matters