observation

i don't know of many places to go here in lawrence that are good for tanning. i'm not far from the lake, but as for finding a good secluded place that i can sprawl out for hours in little to nothing, i've yet to be successful. i lived in manhattan long enough to discover the perfect spot at tuttle to lay out all day in my underwear and not have to worry about getting arrested for indecent exposure (can you get arrested for that if you're still in your underwear?). which brings me to the field.

there's a "field" of sorts by the overlook at the lake. it's a field in the sense that there is a lot of grass and not much else, but in reality, it's just a baron strip of land next to an outhouse and some state buildings. very picturesque, as you can tell. not secluded enough to warrant skivvy-wearing, but it does the job.

but it's fun being out in the middle of nature and listening to the sounds of the birds and the wind (or lack of. damn it was hot today!) and the bugs.

by the way, having a bee do one of those kamikaze fly-bys is not pleasant. it almost always makes you crap your pants.

being someone who's not the biggest fan of the insect world, i'm very surprised that i would allow myself the chance of even coming in contact with anything living in the grass. i often get the sensation that something is crawling on my leg or tickling my toes, and to an onlooker, it probably looks like i'm having a seizure by the vast amount of flailing and lurching i do to rid my body of the pest.

i only have two main objections to tanning in the field:

1) spiders live in the grass. my towel is on the grass. i am on the towel. put the pieces together.

2) there are so many bees! seriously. there are lots of bees. i know if i don't disturb them, they won't bother me, but there's always that little part in the back of my mind that thinks a swarm of them will overtake me and turn me into a giant puffy mass. ew.

despite my bug-phobia though, i found it rather fascinating to delve into their world and do nothing more than watch. just lay there... and watch. it's oddly voyeuristic in a way. i don't get off watching bugs or anything, but the sheer fact that i can entrench myself into this world we see every day but think nothing of, and observe the day-to-day life is very cool. it would not be cool if someone was watching us like that, because that would be scary, but essentially it's the same concept. like a miniature safari, but without the man-eating creatures and the cool jeep.

i believe i observed six different spiders during my 120 minutes of sun bathing, and not once did i completely freak out. why is that? perhaps it's because i was invading their environment and not the other way around. i knew that i would eventually leave them there, so they pose no threat to me once i stop watching them. or perhaps it's because i knew they weren't deadly! not once did i see any brown recluses scampering about in the wilderness. they're the snobs of the spider world. they have to have better accommodations than their spider friends, so they crash in the nearest apartment building they can find.

regardless, i believe the next time i venture out into the field, i will do a little more watching, because it really is amazing the things you see out there when you really pay attention. a camera might come in handy too. hmm...