Field Study #1
On Wednesday, March 30th I began my first observation of Capitol Lake. I sat on a bench with my back toward 5th Avenue.
The first thing I noticed were the people walking, talking, and running along the trails around the lake. I noticed that this is a place that people come to enjoy, especially on a warm spring day. The view I chose could have been a postcard for Olympia, with the sparkling blue water and the Capitol Building on the hill behind it. Ducks and birds floated on the water occasionally. The foreground of my sight was gravel and cement barriers along the edge of the lake, which makes the lake seem so human-managed and pristine, although the water may not be. Overall I got a sense of being in a postcard, or felt like a tourist. When I think of a lake, I think of direct interactions with nature and solitude, and at Capitol Lake I feel like I’m looking at a really big pond in a park.
I had a similar experience while conducting my field study at Capitol Lake, mostly just people walking and talking, and the sounds of birds in the distance. I do agree that the lake does not feel like an actual lake more like a man-made pond.