Low marine layer for much of the day. The base around town did not seem to rise above 1000 feet that I noticed, and perhaps not even that high. Highs in the mid to upper 50s.
The marine layer was merely the lowest part of clouds and I think it was overcast above, as well. This was in part because it looked like the marine layer did not extend too far to the west. I also drove up Harbor Mountain road and got above the base layer of clouds, and still had clouds above me.
With calls today and the low clouds, plus plenty to do to catch up on photos and photojournals from the past week, I didn’t get out much today (primarily the drive up Harbor Mountain road).
The past couple of days I’ve had moths on the porch. I suspect Sunday’s warm weather may have inspired some to emerge.
It was nice to see a tussock moth (Lophocampa maculata) adult. The caterpillars seem to have become fairly common in recent years, but I don’t always see adults. It’s always a little hard to know whether something has truly increased in numbers, or if I’m just noticing it more. However, in this case I’m pretty sure it’s a real increase. The caterpillars are quite distinctive, and many people have been reporting them over the past handful of years, with essentially no reports (that I know of) before that around Sitka.
There was also a first Mniotype tenera, a species that’s more typically around in July.
With the sunshine of the past couple of days, the upstairs part of my house (where I spend most of my time), really warmed up. I cracked the window near where I sit to feel some cool air, but it’s also resulted in more sounds and smells making it to me from outside. Of course there is traffic, but also the sounds of the birds singing, especially in the evening. The Swainson’s Thrushes in particular seem fond of closing out the day in song (they’re also one of the first birds to sing in the morning, in my experience). The first day I mostly caught the smell of smoke, but today I was noticing what I believe might be the lilac flowers now blooming in the neighborhood.
I’ve been listening to the audio book of The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain by Annie Murphy Paul.
It’s been very interesting an inspiring to me. The first chapters are about the ways our capacity for thinking and understanding is aided or even rooted in our bodies, both how we feel, and how we move. I was particularly interested in the chapter on interoception, the perception of sensations inside the body. According to the author (referencing multiple strands of research), our bodies can begin to register understanding well before we are consciously aware. A well-developed interoception can give greater access to this unconscious awareness, through the ways it manifests in one’s body.
I realized that my interoception is probably not especially good, but that’s something I can work on developing further through something called body scanning. This is basically a meditative type practice of putting one’s awareness onto each different part of the body, and naming what feeling is there. Over time this routine can help develop a better felt sense of one’s body. My intention is to do this at least once a day. I’ll see how it goes.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
