Sometimes It's Very Busy But There's Always Flow
Author: Nickolas, Great River School
Location: Lauderdale/Saint Paul MN
Weather: Very sunny. Blue skies. No rain, it's very dry. About 70-80 degrees. Very nice.
I'm sitting out side and it is very loud. There is wind gusting and tree leaves and branching swaying. There is a lot of traffic. Lots of honking and sounds from cars and motorcycle engines. The birds are making a lot of noise. And yet it is a very nice day out. It is very sunny and blue skies I guess at this time of day everybody is rushing to get home, or work, or somewhere (I'm about to go to ultimate practice). It is just a nice tuesday afternoon and everybody wants to make the best of it. Although there is a lot of chaos there is also flow. My apartment building parking lot is not that big but sometimes it's busy. For every car that leaves another comes. The streets are busy but not stopped or chaotic. The birds are still chirping in melody and good tones. Sometimes the world( or at least the area I'm in) is busy and sometimes it's quiet and peaceful. There is a good balance.
There Is Life Among Us
Author: Nickolas, Great River School
Location: MN
Weather: Sunny, blue skies, some white cotton clouds, slight winds, warm outside but when the wind hits your skin you get a little chilly. Probably 60-70 degrees.
I'm sitting outside of my apartment building. In the back there is a little enclosed off area kind of hidden in the woods, it is between housing and the golf coarse. It is really nice. I'm just sitting in the sun listening to all of the birds chirping and playing around. I can hear lots of scrapes on the bark of tres as squirrels run up and down trees. The sun is heating up my back and my head while the wind cools off my body. It is very peaceful. When I look around I see wonderful bright green trees that look like they are overexcited that it's springtime. There are still buds on the trees but most of them have turned into rich green leaves. On some of the trees there is even lots of bright pink flowers. I could sit here for days just listening to the leaves swaying in the wind, hearing the birds chirp and hearing the animals play. It is a very nice day.
Damp May Night
Author: Joseph, Great River School
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Weather: 57 degrees Fahrenheit, damp
It is nice out tonight. It is damp yet not very cold. All I am wearing is shorts and a T-shirt and I feel just a little chilled. I can hear wet things dripping around me and birds chirping as well. Everything is getting so luscious and green. I can smell wet dirt. I also hear the water meter on the side of my neighbors house hissing away like it always does. The sky is a light purple like always, brighter on one horizon than the other. I hope this nice weather continues, although maybe not so much rain.
Clovers and Dandelions
Author: Melanie, Great River School
Location: Wooded area near Como Lake
Weather: Mostly sunny, quite warm out. A very faint breeze. It poured earlier today
I haven't been here for two weeks now, and I can definitely tell. The grass is no longer a field of lush greenery. It is now dotted its purple clover and yellow dandelions, some of which are seeding. The lilac tree that was in full bloom is now withering away already, the flowers wilting and turning an odd brownish colour. The crabapple tree across the street, which had fragrant blossoms only weeks ago, is now devoid of all colours but green. The oak trees, which two weeks ago still had small, developing leaves, now provide full shade from the sun, although the leaves do still have a bright, young look to them. Butterflies are darting around. There are small yellow ones, and a few that look like tiger moths but might not be. A squirrel protects its territory from another with a loud chattering sound. The birdsong is constant. It's strange, because now that the weather seems to be transitioning to summery, the grasses and animals are only just fully transitioning to spring. This year has had such wacky weather, I can only wonder what the summer will be like!
Tree East of Lake Como
Author: Lucy, Great River School
Location: East of Lake Como, St. Paul, MN
Weather: 73 degrees F, 7 mph winds, sunny, clear blue skies
This tree now looks fully alive again, all of its branches are filled with bright green leaves. These leaves have an almond shape. Most of the leaf buds are now gone, leaving fully developed leaves in their place. Everything in the yard looks green and healthy. The bark of this tree also looks very healthy and sturdy, with barely any peeling parts.
Just A Normal Day
Author: Evan, Great River School
Location: Backyard of my house
Weather: It is 45 F there is no wind. It's cloudy and the humidity is at 47%
It is really amazing all the trees and bushes are green and it's not even May 15th yet (the date where its safe to plant). The weather was amazing today in the morning it was a little bit misty and raining then about at ten o'clock the rain cleared and it was a clear day. All the plants are growing very nicely and the grass is very green. It started to get cool later in the evening and rain softly drizzled over the city so right now the ground is damp. I can very clearly see the difference in the flower gardens when it has rain than when it hasn't.
Spring
Author: Lilli, Great River School
Location: St.Paul
Weather: Wind 6 mph. 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Cloudy. Light rain almost all day.
Definitely a jacket kind of day. It was rainy and chilly. Right now its not that windy but still cold. Over the past week nothing has changed very much, everything is still really green. The lilacs are in bloom in my back yard and smell amazing. The hastas in my front yard are really big, and the grass is long and green. There still aren't leaves on my maple tree but it is growing, a little to dark to take the picture. There are squirrels running around as usual, dogs barking, people talking, but basically pretty quiet. Its been chilly all week, a few really warm days though. Summer is coming!
Last Chilly Saturday of April
Author: Joseph, Great River School
Location: Saint Paul, Minnesota
Weather: 47 degrees Fahrenheit, clear skies
It is pretty chilly out tonight. There is a slight breeze that adds to it. The wind makes the leaves rustle a lot in the trees. It covers up any other sounds. I can make out the faint wail of an police cars siren though and my parents putting away dishes in the kitchen. The sky is a light purple like always, making the tree branches above my head look jet black. My neighbors across the alley from us have their back porch light on, illuminating their backyard, although I can only see a small part of it. There is always the lone street light brightening my other neighbors dark backyard. The grass is now a very rich green, although mostly everything else is still a light spring green. For some reason I smell a dead animal. Probably thawing out from being frozen all winter and just starting to rot. This is the last observation for April, hope that next month brings warmer weather.
Yard and Gardens
Author: Tia, Great River School
Location: Roseville
Weather: Sun! 72 degrees hot small breeze
It's beautiful out!The weather is such an improvement from last week. The garden is thriving with the buds continuing to come through and the sun is bringing out the color in all of it. The bugs are definitely reappearing, ants spiders even small flies are surrounding the area which is good to see again.
The Fresh World
Author: Nickolas, Great River School
Location: Lauderdale MN.
Weather: It's mildly cold outside. Everything is wet so that makes it a little colder. It is 51 degrees f. There is mild wind. Off and on gusts of wind. There is enough wind so that the branches and needles on the trees are slightly swaying but not that much of the tree is moving. It is cloudy, humid, fresh. There is no sun but there is a glow that is lighting everything up. It's a beautiful day.
I'm sitting outside. I has been raining off and on all day long. There is water droplets everywhere. It smells really fresh outside. Very clean, just like it does when it is raining or when it's done raining. Because it is wet, I am sitting in my car with the windows rolled down and the sunroof open. There is a string of 7 large pine trees in the median between my apartment building and Larpentur. Just stopping to listen I hear lots of cars driving by but I also hear about 10 different varieties of birds. I wouldn't be able to name all of the species but I bet there's robins for sure because it's prime time to find worms right after it rains. There is one tree righoften front of my car where the branches on the bottom are missing needles but only on one side so it looks like a cave and there is constantly birds flying in and out of there. Sometimes they stop so I can see them and a lot of times there going throught the trees so fast I can even tell but I can glimpse them and hear them chirping. Right now I am so peaceful. I am just relaxing watching the world go by.
It's really nice being as busy as I am to sit and watch everybody else go by hustling around and being able to stop and just Watch...

