Field Guide Entry Examples:

Field Entry #1

Date: Sunday December 7, 2003
Time: 8:00-8:30 p.m.
Weather: Cool, dark, drizzle falling. No wind. 39 degrees F.
Site: Amazon Head Waters (East Amazon and Martin Streets)

It’s ridiculously cold, dark and rainy for doing a school assignment but nonetheless, here I am. Such dedication! Small drops of falling rain are visible from the light cast by the streetlight not 50 feet away from my perch. It is quiet now, peaceful really. The sound of a dog barking some distance away peppers the quiet. As I listen more closely, I begin to notice other sounds as well—first the sound of rain falling on dead leaves, next a car starting down the street, finally the sound of my breathing as it causes my belly to rise and fall in a gentle cadence, my jacket rustling with it in time. It strikes me at some point, how seldom we are asked or allowed to be still. My mind becomes instinctively reflective as I take note of my mood—how was my day, what are the sources of my present melancholy. I am reminded, sitting here in the dark, of a night like this when I was a child playing outside after dark. I had a sense then, as I do now, of the mystery of outdoors when it is dark—how a place you’ve spent hours in during daylight hours becomes foreign once the sun is gone. It was as if I’d never been there before, in my own backyard, and now, in this place where I have been many times, the same is true. It’s a new world.

It takes some time for me to settle into the business of actively observing my surroundings. It was much easier to be inside my head. But now, as I draw my attention to what’s going on outside me, around me, I’m intrigued. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen two runners using the trail off to me right. I am sure neither saw me sitting here. The pile of leaves I’m sitting on is made from huge big leaf maple leaves that appear to have been at one time quite red and bright before they began their slow metamorphosis into decomposing detritus. It looks as though much of the area I’m sitting in has been cleared of vegetation. I bet there were mostly blackberries here since I see a few remaining stickery shoots protruding from a berm behind me.

I’m overcome with the smell of wood smoke. I hadn’t noticed it until now. I decide to close my eyes to see if it enhances my ability to observe other smells. This seems to work as I suddenly can discern a piney smell emanating from the Douglas Fir trees not far from here and the smell of dead, wet leaves is also present. I open my eyes and notice a form in the distance. As it comes closer, I realize it is a nutria (!) grazing on grass near the creek. It must have been there for some time, but I missed it until now.

Soon I realize my half hour is up and rise from the soft pile of leaves that has been my perch. I notice my feet feel like ice blocks and my hands are quite chilled too. I’m thankful to be heading home where a nice cup of hot tea will revive me.

Field Entry #2

Date: Friday December 12, 2003
Time: 3:30-4:00 p.m.
Weather: Partly cloudy, cool but pleasant. A slight breeze from the South. 48 degrees F.
Site: Amazon Head Waters (East Amazon and Martin Streets)

Same place but it looks and seems totally different in the daylight. There is so much activity, traffic and noise from passers-by that it feels utterly different than my last observation……

Etc.