https://southsidegrl.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/the-campus-saunter/

https://southsidegrl.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/the-campus-saunter/

The Campus Saunter

By TJ Jahns

          An aspect of sauntering outside is that no matter how many times you repeat the route it is never the same walk.  Having taken Chris’s Nature class last spring, the walk we took Thursday was rather familiar.  It was not in any way boring because of its familiarity. I was able to look for things that had changed.  Also all the walks from that class were in the afternoon; now I could see how things looked in the morning light.  We are in the same season but this is Wisconsin so no season is ever really the same.  I could pick a path and walk it every day for a year.  If I leave at the same time and go at the same pace, I would still end up with 365 different walks.  The sky would look different.  The air would feel different.  Mother Nature is fantastic at the game “Spot the Difference”. That is why the outdoors will always be my choice for sauntering.

Natural History Soundtrack

In the beginning of the semester my class was asked to think about songs that would fit with a natural history theme, a soundtrack for fieldtrips. We are only two weeks from the end of the semester now but here it is anyway. Some will seem obvious, others not so much but it’s my mix so I’ll listen to what I want. Please add suggestions in the comments.

Africa by Toto
Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes
Space Junk by Wang Chung
Bein’ Green by Kermit (and a number of others)
Fox on the Run by Sweet
I Wan’na be like you (the monkey song) by Louis Prima-The Jungle Book
I am a Rock by Simon & Garfunkel
Take me to the River by Talking Heads
Thrift Shop by Macklemore-This is for Cassie-not really Natural History but I can’t hear this song without thinking of you and I can’t think of you without thinking Natural History
99.9F by Suzanne Vega
A Thousand Years by Sting
Dream Weaver by Gary Wright
Bright as Yellow by The Innocent Mission- For Abigail in her yellow coat.
Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash
The Tide is High by Blondie
Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel
Rainbow Connection by The Muppets
Sticks and Stones by Ray Charles
Butterfly by Crazytown
Frozen by Madonna
Stormy Weather by Peggy Lee
Night on Disco Mountain by David Shire
Spiderwebs by No DoubtPiggy by Nine Inch Nails
Animals by Nickleback
Paisley Park by Prince
Buffalo Stance by Neneh Cherry
Wild Side by Motley Crue
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) by Missy Elliot
Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel
Cruel Summer by Bananarama
Long Cold Winter by Cinderella
Spider Web by Joan Osborne
Higher Ground by Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Dead Can Dance
Egg Man by The Beastie Boys
Roses Grow by Concrete Blonde
Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head by Gorillaz
Fire Woman by The Cult
Teeth by Lady Gaga
Union of the Snake by Duran Duran
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Pink Elephants on Parade by Disney Chorus-Dumbo
Gone Fishin’ by Louis Armstrong/Bing Crosby
It’s on the Rocks by The Donnas
Barracuda by Heart
Rock Lobster by B52’s

Here comes the sun…

It was slow in coming and then when spring finally arrived we were reminded that weather comes in all forms and here in Wisconsin they often show themselves all on the same day. I experienced blue skies and black clouds with sunshine and snow one Friday afternoon. For the longest time there was nothing new to report in my sit-spot sessions. The water was still noisy, the birds still chirped and other than one yet-to-be identified (I have been told by at least 2 fellow park goers that it is an invasive species) plant there had been no green to speak of (or in my case, write of). That has finally changed. I spotted daffodils and a blue flower I do not know (of course I just returned that wildflower guide book to my teacher). The stone walls are getting covered in wonderfully soft looking green moss. Little buds are appearing everywhere on the trees and bushes. Small green shoots are bursting through the faded brown carpet of dead leaves which now frequently rustles with the passage of squirrels.
There has also been an increase in activity of the human variety, as there usually is when the Wisconsin weather finally turns kind. The people I encounter in Seven Bridges are always polite, frequently friendly and on more than one occasion outright helpful. I am aware these journaling assignments are supposed to be about the natural space but with the arrival of spring my area of observation has included more and more of my fellow beings. I cannot tell a lie; I sometimes move my observation spot farther away from the paths if I am there at a busy time.
I am going to include a bunch of pictures of my last session in this blog. I will write captions but any plant or tree I have yet to identify I will leave blank until I do. If anyone can identify the blank ones, please let me know in the comments, thank you.

blue mystery flower

Mob of blue mystery flower

mossy rock wall

More mossy rock walls

This was the first of anything green seen.

Here it is close up…the plant I’ve been told is invasive but cannot get an identification on.

tree fungus

daffodils somebody must have planted

Seven Bridges Photo-Point Monitoring Continues

Monday April 1 523PM

Monday April 8 238PM

Monday April 22 344PM

Friday April 26 501PM

 

 

 

Friday May 3 147PM

Monday April 1 521PM

Women, Nature and Science

This could be an alternate title for my Natural History course. The next series of exhibits at the Lynden Sculpture Garden will encompass these subjects.  The artists deal with them either directly or indirectly.  The first one up is Sheila Held.  She does these tapestries that look like paintings.  I will be checking it out tomorrow.  The Lynden  fulfills a circumstance I mentioned in an earlier blog.  The one about being a tourist in your own town.  I have been driving by this place for years, aware of it because of the beautiful barns with large sculptures out front.  But I had no idea it was open to the public. As they say on the website their sign is pitifully small.  I learned about it in my art history class.  Essentially it is a large park with lots of sculptures.  It has indoor gallery space as well.  Check it out.

http://www.lyndensculpturegarden.org

If I have a chance I’ll add to this post how the experience went.

Questions, Questions Everywhere….

Usually the hardest part of a project or paper is coming up with a topic.  It may seem like a no-brainer when you are sitting in class and an assignment is given but later when you try to get started a blankness of mind can happen.  Suddenly you have no interest in anything, all possibilities seem lame, overdone or beyond comprehension, but not with Natural History.  I can go out to any park or rural area, point to a spot and have a research topic.  What is that?  How long has that been there?  What kind of trees are those?  Is there a name for that creek?  Where is the source for that water?  Where does it go?  What kind of flowers bloom here?  Is that a rabbit?  What other kinds of animals live here?  What are they eating?

The outside world is a lab gone mad; no labels, no sterile conditions to be maintained, no useful equipment stacked neatly in a cabinet, and no lab book to be filled out.  Out in the field you get dirty and no one cares.  Out in the field you make do with what is available.  Out in the field you get wet, cold, hot and sweaty.  Out in the field if you have a spool of string, Popsicle sticks and a plastic baggy you are considered well equipped.  Out in the field is where the animals live and the plants grow.  Out in the field is where anything can happen so that is where I’d rather go.

My current project about Seven Bridges, Grant Park has given me an appreciation for people who spend weeks, months and even years studying places.  There are all these layers of information: plants that grow there, animals that inhabit the area, water sources, weather conditions, human influence.  Information gathering requires patience; it is not just what you find when you look but what has changed since the last time you looked.  I picked two photo points but really I could have done dozens in that place.

For information I started in the library, and then ended up on the internet.  I could find a little history of the area but for more information I will need to contact the county parks people as they will have more expertise. http://county.milwaukee.gov/Parks

April 1st 5:23 Pm-on bridge opposite outlet

April 7th 2:37 PM, Seven Bridges- on bridge, opposite outlet

The hardest questions to answer are the ones where there is no record kept.   For instance if someone was studying the Alverno campus and they wanted to know how many squirrels reside on campus?  Has that number increased or decreased since last year?  Does the number of students residing on campus affect the squirrel population?  Unless someone has been monitoring Alverno campus squirrels how you could possibly answer these questions.

April 1st, 5:21 PM-Seven Bridges Outlet

April 7th 2:37PM Seven Bridges Outlet

Sit Spot, in the beginning…

When we began to talk about sit spots in my Natural History class my mind went immediately to “sit-upon”. Every scout reading this should know what I am speaking of, a stack of newspapers covered with a piece of plastic tablecloth or placemats stitched together with yarn. At least that is how my troop made them. The idea was something lightweight and easy to carry outdoors that you could sit upon and not get your butt wet or dirty. Later I used bits of tarp or an old flat pillow when I did outdoor sketching but I always called it a “sit-upon”, even if it was just in my own head.
The sit spot is a place, outdoors, that I will, at least once a week, spend a half an hour or so making observations. What kind of observations? The kind a naturalist would make. These observations will be jotted down in my journal to be later written up and posted in this blog. I picked a spot in Seven Bridges-Grant Park, South Milwaukee. This is old stomping grounds for me and this assignment is the perfect motivation to get back to regularly visiting a place I love.
Due to schedule and weather I almost did not make it out to my spot before the first writing was due but a little time opened up and off I went. It is still too cold to sit still for thirty minutes so for this first entry I will include things technically outside of my sit spot.
Two thirty in the afternoon, Monday, March 4th. There is more than one way into Seven Bridges. I have chosen the main way off of the park road. From here, there are two paths into the woods; the treacherous icy stairs or the treacherous icy bridge. They both go the same way connecting to other, crossing paths, but one leads down to the beach level and the other leads up the ridge. I usually go in one and come out the other so as to hit all the fun bits but snow and ice could make parts impassable. I chose the bridge route since the spot I want is up on the ridge and it is too darn cold to spend time backtracking (29°, winds 9 mph).
The spot I chose is in the woods with a view of the lake and a small bit of beach. I wanted to be able to see the lake because springtime is a great time to observe the lake as there is all that ice that will break up and melt. If you have never heard large chunks of lake ice crack, you are truly missing out. Today the closer I got to the lake and my spot, the windier it got. The wind was whipping through the trees and I heard the water flowing through the ice. The trees are bare with white lines on the same side where the wind blows the snow. The only creatures I saw was a couple heading out of the area I was headed to. The ground on the path is snow packed and covered in prints of both two and four legged travelers. I was right in taking the bridge route; the stone stairs that take you down to the lower paths (and would have brought me up if I’d gone the other way) were too ice covered to be safely traversed.
After about fifteen minutes my cheeks were raw and I needed to start back. It was not my full half-hour in my spot but I had been out for about 40 minutes. Hopefully the weather will warm up a little before my next assignment is due.

Natural Places in Urban Settings

When I think of a natural place in an urban setting I think of a park. My first thought is simplistic; trees, grass, maybe a bench by a path and because I grew up next to Lake Michigan, cliffs and beach. There is more to being a park than that and not all natural places are, strictly speaking, parks. Why is it important to have these places? For many people it is the only contact with nature they have. We live in a natural world; the planet is not a big city where bits of habitat sprouted up. Those who have been urban dwellers all their life are removed from the natural world. In a time when humanity is wrestling with its responsibility of its own living space (the planet) it’s important that everyone understand what is at stake.
According to http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/census_issues/archives/metropolitan_planning/cps2k.cfm, there are nearly four times as many people in America living in urban areas than in rural. That means the majority of Americans live in places where nature is not an immediate concern. So how can these people understand the value of it? Usually it starts in grade school with field trips; a farm just outside the city, the local zoo, or the ever popular Domes (here in Milwaukee). That is great if you are not lucky enough to have family who live in a rural area that you can visit. Getting children interested early in nature can start a lifelong appreciation of it. Communities that live around these places often get the most use out of them. Parks will have woods and wild fields connected to baseball diamonds and soccer fields. Being able to walk to a natural setting is considered a plus to a living spot.
These natural places educated everyone, not just children, about the beauty of nature and the serenity one can achieve by simply entering into one. They connect us with the world we have to take care of, even if some of us do not know that yet.

Naturalist Tradition

My Kitchen window, 1st time using window paint.

When you look at a painting on the wall in a museum, in order to see it fully you must stand far enough back. From that spot you can take in the landscape, portrait or whatever expression or message the artist has put on the canvas as a whole. Will you achieve a full understanding of what that painting is from that spot? No, there is more to learn. One thing that can be done is to move closer. Go close enough to see the brush strokes; go close enough to identify all the colors of paint the artist used. Look at where those colors contrast, how they layer, and when they blend. Shift over, and up and down until you have spent time on every inch of the painting; learning all you can from every spot. Will you then know what the painting means? No, there is more to learn. Who was the artist? Are they new to the art world or an old hand? Is this the artists’ first painting or was it their last? Is this the first time those particular materials have been used? Where was the artist born and where do they live now? Did they attend a school for art or are they self-taught? When this painting was made what was going on in the world– socially, politically, economically and would any of that matter to the painter? When you have all that information and step back to once again view the canvas as a whole, will you then fully understand what that painting is? No, there is more to learn. Look at all the other paintings in the room.
I’ve been reading “Finding Order in Nature” by Paul Lawrence Farber for my Natural History of North America class and for this journal entry the assignment is to answer the question “How might you describe the naturalist tradition at the end of reading this small book?” I would describe the naturalist tradition as person going to an art museum, seeing a painting on the wall and truly wanting to know what it means.

Acrylic on Canvas board, Covers of banned books donated to an anti-banned book organization.

Illustration done for my aunt Eileen