site sits

An unfinished, untitled poem-thing in verse form, attempting to explore some feelings/observations having coming back from the Sonoran Desert. Mostly some gestures towards changes I'm noticing in my perceptions of "the natural world" and my site during this snowy spring afternoon. I've included an image from my site sit below as well.

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For the rest of the semester, I’ve decided to change up my site sit. Recently I wandered through the Sunken Garden on a walk around campus, and I think that is where I’d like to return to for a little while.  I visited it today in the snow, excited for the peace and to experience the dampening of sound that makes the world serene and quiet as white flakes float towards the earth. Instead, I was greeted with the noise of Haffner construction. It wasn’t exactly was I was expecting, but I found that after a while, I didn’t mind it that much. It was loud and unpredictable, but it was part of that place at that moment in time, and a reminder that the places we live and work and wander through on campus did not simply spring from the ground one day fully formed.

I decided I wasn't going to change my site because unlike a lot of the other sites, I found I tended to not have extra visitors. 

When I went today, I had to be a little careful because there was no way of telling where the stairs where and I didn't want to slip. Once I got to my site, I was happier than I had ever been there. I had been having an incredibly good day and even though the snow was shocking, I loved it. The temperature wasn't too cold and the snow was falling so softly and I was just happy. I spent more time there than I had originally meant to because I got a little lost in observing my surroundings and everything that was happening both inside and outside my head. 

Today is the day of the March Equinox. The sun is shining directly on the equator, perfectly splitting night and day into equal lengths. Standing by the duck pond, under this thick March snowfall, it seemed that the night and day were blurred together, rejecting their stark divide. I’m not going to waste time complaining about the snow--as my friend at the Dining Center said, “why stress about things out of our control? You can’t stop the snow”. Instead I want to share with you a word I was reflecting on by the four stepping stones: imagination.

This was the first time visiting my site in while (about a month with spring break, visiting someone elses, looking up the history instead). 

The sun was shining and the wind seemed to be in a better mood than usual. It felt wispier compared to the harshness I felt during the week earlier. The sun gave the campus a really nice shadow and, for the first time, I  was able to notice the pond behind Rhoads. It looked like one of those lakes at a camp, but without a blob. I think the college should remove the geese , make the lake deeper, place a blob in the lake. College already feels like a camp, the blob would be a great addition.

This is the poem that I left at Anne's site sit but I guess it never reached her. It really inspired me to begin writing poems again...expect a follow up poem at your site sit sometime in the next couple of weeks, Anne! So here is an online posting: "Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond" by E.E. Cummings

A stranger atop the Juliet & Juliet balcony

[Late posting due to illness and inclement weather]

Visiting the bench by Pensby center was a strange experience. Purple Finch was right in saying that it "feels distant and removed from the rest of campus." It felt like I was staring at an exit or entrance, like I was outside of where all of the action was happening. The site had so much going on. People were going up and down the stairway, the lacrosse team was holding practice; there was no one place you could look at without missing something else. At times, I felt misplaced. I wasn't supposed to be there, but not because this wasn't my site. I couldn't face forward or I felt like I was intruding in on the lacrosse practice. But, when I turned sideways, I was facing the stairway and facing people as they walked by.

Feeling impatient walking to the site slipping on the ice there is so much I have to do today this week I don't have any time for leisure how do I have time to walk to this new place I don't even know where it is where am I going why is it so far why does this feel like leisure I can't afford leisure my thoughts are swirling I have to write papers I have to make a post and read and do my petrology homework I have to pack for leaving I have to practice my lines for rehearsals I have to remind myself to eat I have to clean my room do my laundry I have to apply for jobs I need a summer job what if I get no summer jobs what will I do I have to prepare for my phone interview on Wednesday I have to call my parents my mind is not present in the moment all it can think about is the future and d

I decided to visit my assigned partner's site this week after having gone to the Posse Plus Retreat 2015 on Crime and Punishment. I have never really questioned or challenged the space around me on campus. I have never really considered how every student on campus uses and utilize this space differently. I have never really imagined all the different interactions this space holds. I have never thought that this space could be considered unsafe for some people. I have never seen how much this space could stir up so many hurt, anger and pain.