mpetracchi's blog

Outside my apartment, under the stairs, there is a medium-sized spider-web. It is fairly sturdy. Some wind swept by and the web didn't move too much. It’s already caught a couple of bugs. There are an ant and a small flying insect, and both appear to be dead or at least not moving. The web itself is packed into a corner and the bulk of the threads are in the center of the corner with decreasing amounts of threads near the edges. As well as possible food, there's also some debris on the web. A small dried leaf swept into the web and got caught. It’s approximately half an inch long and very dry. It appears to be fairly old and may be a part that has broken off a larger leaf. It has a couple of small holes on the bottom left. They are about the size of a push pinhole. The web is not very tightly packed, as seeing through it is not much of a problem. When a light is shone onto the web it reflects some of the light. Around this spider web, there are some older cobwebs, which seem out of use. They are unattached to any major structure. I am assuming they are old because they seem deteriorated and have accumulated dirt. They sway if any wind is present and otherwise hang from single points. The spider who spun this web is not currently present. I am not going to touch it for a number of reasons. Mainly I am not too fond of spiders and their webs because for whatever reason they make me feel slightly uneasy.

The object I am observing in this draft is a group of leaves detached from an unkown plant. It contains a stem and and three small leaflets that come off of a main joint near the center. The leaves are a dark green color on the top-side, which are glossy and reflect light when angled properly, and a lighter green on the bottom. If light is shown on the back the front shows a scaly pattern and is slghtly transluscent. The leaves are flexible and very light. The top leaflet in particular has some interesting discoloration to it that appears to be a snake like mark on the right side which is much darker than the rest of the leaf. This particular leaflet opens up much like a fan and has identical rounded edges starting about half-way up the leaf to the end which both sides meet at the tip forming a point. The leaflet on the right side is small, much smaller than the leaflet on the left and the top. It also has a curved pattern edge starting about half-way up the leaflet, however, it isn't as symmetrical as the top leaflet. The curved pattern on the upper side of the leaf is smaller than its lower half. On the lower portion of the right leaflet a small lump con be found on the track of a vein on the lower half. The left leaflet is similar to the right, but larger. It has a similar ridge pattern and a similar lump near a vein. The leaf has an earthy smell and a waxy texture. The leaflets are 55mm across from one point to another and about 60 mm from the top leaflet to the stem. The stem itself is much sturdier than the rest of the leaflets, has a red color on the top, and a lighter red color on the opposite side. The end of the stem is bulbous and contains no roots.

The object I am observing in this draft is a group of leaves detached from an unkown plant. This part of the plant has a stem and and three small leaflets that come off of a main joint near the center. The leaves are a dark green color on the top-side and a lighter green on the bottom. They are glossy and reflect light when angled properly. If light is shown on the back or front it shows a scaly pattern and is slghtly transluscent. The leaves are flexible and very light. The top leaflet in particular has some interesting discoloration to it. It has what appears to be a snake like mark on the right side which is much darker than the rest of the leaf. This particular leaflet opens up much like a fan and has identical rounded edges about half-way up the leaf. At the very point the leaflet has a point at which both sides meet. The leaflet on the right side is small, smaller than the leaflet on the right and the top. It also has a curved pattern edge starting about half-way up the leaflet, however it is not as symmetrical as the top leaflet. The curved pattern on the upper side of the leaf is smaller than its lower half. On the lower portion of the right leaflet there is a small lump on the track of a vein. The left leaflet is similar to the right, but larger. It has a similar ridge pattern and also has a lump near a vein. The leaf has an earthy smell and has a waxy texture. From the left to right leaflet is approximately 55 mm and from the top leaflet to the stem it's about 60 mm. The stem itself is much sturdier than the rest of the leaflets, has a red color on the top, and a lighter red on the bottom. The end of the stem is bulbous and contains no roots.