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Thursday evening: The sound of the church bells at St. Giles fills the air once again.
One of these weeks, I am going to need to take part in a bell ringing...
The weather today was fantastic. Clear skies, a mild breeze, temperature around 80 degrees (F), and a bright sun. So, after lunch, I grabbed some reading material, changed into shorts, and walked down the block to the University Park. The park borders the Oxford Science Area, so I had seen it before, but never gone in. This time, I walked across the length of the park -- shucking shirt, shoes, and socks as I did so -- and, feeling the soft grass beneath my feet, I made my way to the pond that I had seen on the map. Plenty of people lay around the park, sunbathing, reading, working on laptops, etc.
When I got to the pond, I spent a little time watching the ducks before digging into my reading. A couple sitting not far from my had brought bread and were feeding the hungry little things.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat, we need to do this, too, as it has been far too long since we fed ducks together! There were plenty of mallards, which is fine as I like mallards, but also some a couple of duck species that I could not recognize. When we first arrived and went to Regent's Park in London, I had noticed that England has more species of ducks than we commonly see in the United States. After watching ducks eat, chase each other around the pond, and honk noisily, I settled down to do some reading. A group of college kids was sitting not far from me, with one of the kids strumming on a stringed instrument. I couldn't see what instrument it was -- and my ear is certainly not trained enough to tell from sound -- but I enjoyed the background music.
Even wearing nothing but shorts, I got hot after awhile, so I dipped my feet into the pond and kept reading. Not far from the pond is a section of the River Cherwell, where I could see people in punts periodically boating by. A big black dog came out of nowhere on the other side of the pond and began chasing the ducks, all the while with a big stick in his mouth. I laughed out loud to watch his antics, wading into the water and then back out. A few people enjoying the pond-side view had to move, though, when wet dog tromped through. A golden retriever joined the play, though he was cleared not the alpha canine; most of his time was spent following the black dog about.
Around 5:30pm, clouds had begun to roll in and the air got a bit cooler. I put on a shirt and proceeded to read until I reached a good stopping point, then I packed up and made my way out of the park. I walked a slightly different path back, this time passing people playing football and practicing their cricket in batting cages.
All in all, a very pleasant afternoon. I suspect that I will be spending a fair bit more time in that park in the coming months...
One of these weeks, I am going to need to take part in a bell ringing...
The weather today was fantastic. Clear skies, a mild breeze, temperature around 80 degrees (F), and a bright sun. So, after lunch, I grabbed some reading material, changed into shorts, and walked down the block to the University Park. The park borders the Oxford Science Area, so I had seen it before, but never gone in. This time, I walked across the length of the park -- shucking shirt, shoes, and socks as I did so -- and, feeling the soft grass beneath my feet, I made my way to the pond that I had seen on the map. Plenty of people lay around the park, sunbathing, reading, working on laptops, etc.
When I got to the pond, I spent a little time watching the ducks before digging into my reading. A couple sitting not far from my had brought bread and were feeding the hungry little things.
cheshcat, we need to do this, too, as it has been far too long since we fed ducks together! There were plenty of mallards, which is fine as I like mallards, but also some a couple of duck species that I could not recognize. When we first arrived and went to Regent's Park in London, I had noticed that England has more species of ducks than we commonly see in the United States. After watching ducks eat, chase each other around the pond, and honk noisily, I settled down to do some reading. A group of college kids was sitting not far from me, with one of the kids strumming on a stringed instrument. I couldn't see what instrument it was -- and my ear is certainly not trained enough to tell from sound -- but I enjoyed the background music.Even wearing nothing but shorts, I got hot after awhile, so I dipped my feet into the pond and kept reading. Not far from the pond is a section of the River Cherwell, where I could see people in punts periodically boating by. A big black dog came out of nowhere on the other side of the pond and began chasing the ducks, all the while with a big stick in his mouth. I laughed out loud to watch his antics, wading into the water and then back out. A few people enjoying the pond-side view had to move, though, when wet dog tromped through. A golden retriever joined the play, though he was cleared not the alpha canine; most of his time was spent following the black dog about.
Around 5:30pm, clouds had begun to roll in and the air got a bit cooler. I put on a shirt and proceeded to read until I reached a good stopping point, then I packed up and made my way out of the park. I walked a slightly different path back, this time passing people playing football and practicing their cricket in batting cages.
All in all, a very pleasant afternoon. I suspect that I will be spending a fair bit more time in that park in the coming months...
