I’m really sad to be writing my last site journal. I feel like utilizing this site journal has been a tool for me to take some time off my week to disconnect from school, from social media, and just “be one with nature” and genuinely just enjoy the present, being in the moment and walking around one of my favorite parks. I’ve enjoyed being able to see the transitions in between seasons, and the sense of connection and similarities I've sort of developed with nature.
As I take my last stroll at city park, I reflect on the impact this park has had for me this year. Over the summer, I was always coming here to city park in the mornings to have a morning walk. I remember seeing and feeling the summer breezes and weather, and as I transitioned into a new chapter of my life, I saw the transitions with nature as well, as the trees slowly started changing colors as well. It feel kind of sad walking around here and seeing how most of the trees are bald and look sad. It feels less lively in a way, because I don’t hear the birds chipping like they would during the summer. Even the sun feels different on my skin, I don’t know how to explain it. During the summer it feels a lot more welcoming and more like “home” even though I never feel at home here. During the fall, I’ve noticed how even on sunny days that I've visited here, the sun doesn’t feel the same, feels crisp and more golden. I feel like that’s also why I like summer more, because fall is beautiful but summer seems like there's more life to the environment. I will say having fall and being here is nice sometimes, because there's actual seasons and you know the time is changing when the trees start changing colors, which is something that doesn’t happen back home in Mexico, since the humidity keeps everything green year round.
As I look back on all the site journals I’ve wrote, I think my favorite part has been identifying trees and flowers along my walks, because I never really saw how much diversity there is around city park. I actually came across a map that shows all the different trees and plants there at city park, and I think it’s so fascinating, because there’s literally so many different kinds of trees here, which is actually really interesting because I feel like as I walk around obviously now I can’t identify a lot because most of them are bald, but during the summer and early fall, I feel like so many of them look the same, but their all so different. I feel like this can be sort of a lesson in a way because it shows me how although many of us can be in the same place, same environment, we are all very different and have different elements and factors that make us the person we are. Nonetheless, i’ve enjoyed walking around city park and just taking in everything about it, even though a lot of the times it smelt like the zoo, since the zoo is right next to it.
When doing some research about city park, I thought it was interesting to see how, “City Park is an urban park and neighborhood in Denver, Colorado. The park is 330 acres (1.3 km2) and is located in east-central Denver. The park contains the Denver Zoo, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Ferril and Duck Lakes, and a boathouse. City Park is also the name of the neighborhood that contains the park, though the park is the vast majority of the neighborhood. To the immediate north of the park is the City Park Golf Course. City Park is the largest park in Denver.”
