Nerve Endings

Ross Krouse - UNT Geography Major

Today was the first time all week we had seen the sunshine in this part of Texas. For the past three days we have been experiencing winter weather here in North Texas, and as the ice accumulations began to melt and the sun beamed down on the ground, signs of life started to become more prevalent once again. I started my observation by trying to relocate the two dandelions from my last mandala exercise just to touch base with them, as expected, due to the harsh winter weather conditions both dandelions where reaching out for their last breath and were withering out of existence. I turned my attention to find a new source of life that was striving in the area and came across two new species of plants that I have yet to notice in the area. The two plants were located where the landscapers had put pollinator plants species in, but they didn’t resemble powerhouse pollinator plants that I have seen before. I started to feel each plant with my hands, thinking about what Professor Wolverton had said about raccoons and the many nerve endings in their hands, and how they use their sense of touch to become more familiar with objects often over other senses. As I grabbed each plant and caressed their stems and petals/branches, I closed my eyes and tried to turn off my other senses. The first plant felt very soft and moss like, almost as if you could pick all the stems off of it and fill a pillow case with them. The plant had no sharp points or edges to ward me off and had a familiar feel to it. The second plant had more of a rubber like texture almost like a fishing lure once the grease wears off. The plant had a sticky texture like it was grabbing me back, I wondered if that was in favor of the plants survival and if it was one of its adaptations. Even colder weather is on its way soon to this part of north Texas, we are expected to see up to three inches of snow/ice in the next few days. I wonder if these plant species will be doing as well as they are today by this time next week.