Today Was Like Summer Clinging On With All It’s Might

Today, here in England, especially here in London, we were blessed with another day of summer, which was a special treat for a day so late in October. It was almost bizarre to have such beautiful weather when next weekend, the clocks fall back one hour and we have to say goodbye to “British Summertime”. I took the time to indulge myself, losing myself in fields bathing in sunshine and trees breathing in the warm golden air.

 

I went to my secret little corner, a part of the nearby public parkland and commonland that hardly anyone seems to walk through. I know there must be thousands of people jogging or walking their dogs in other parts of the park, but hardly anyone seems to pass the little corner I found around eighteen months ago and have returned to time and again.

I can go and lie down in the long grass and remain hidden for hours. Hidden until a curious character found me! It is the first time I have seen cows here, but as it is commonland, there is no reason why cows should not make an appearance. I used to live next door to a diary farm – so I know to let the cows have their peace and quiet. They did not like me climbing over the fence to take some hey for the sheep in the meadow. (Farmer allowed us to – I was not stealing!)

 

I decided to give up my secret spot to her and her family as it was time I went back to the nest and started cleaning before Goldfinch arrives tomorrow.

Aaaaaaaaaah Goldfinch! It should not be hard for me to weave the word “magnetic” into a sentence about Goldfinch! But my brain is tired. I am just wishing he would linger on and on like summer has today. Not long until I say goodbye…and then I am sure I will need to go out walking to my secret little corner of the huge parkland nearby…and remember the times I shared my little hidden copse with my beloved Goldfinch. And I shall be clinging to those memories with all of my might.

https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/daily-writing-challenge-21/

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/magnetic/

https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/your-daily-word-prompt-bizarre-october-21-2018/

https://swimmersweek.wordpress.com/2018/10/21/cow/

A Beautiful Location…A Few Ignorant Fools

Being home – and when I say “home”, I mean the town in which I grew up.  I left a long time ago, my heart left along time ago.  My true home now is where I was based as a full-time volunteer.  That is the place I belong.  However, I enjoy visiting the town I grew up in very much.  I have lots of fantastic memories and friends I can call in on even after all these years and know I will be welcomed warmly.

I have been spending the past two days catching up with old friends and visiting locations I have been longing to see.  I have been taking lots of photos and will use them at some point to create posts that I will hope will be of interest.

However, there are things that I have seen that have saddened me a little.  I was proud of the area I grew up in.  The countryside around this town is idyllic.  I would love to take you exploring the hidden footpaths that are generous with spectacular views and just provide a tunnel of shady green secrecy where you can stroll for hours without seeing anyone.  This is not a town people visit for the walking.  But it is blessed with beautiful places to walk.

In my late teens I started rambling all over Lancashire and Merseyside.  In the summer I would often leave the house at 5.30am and quite literally walk all day coming home well into the evening.  So long as I had water I could go on for miles although I did learn to pack a couple of snacks in my rucksack to make things easier for my weary body.  It was so good for me to fall in love with the countryside on my doorstep.

Every now and then though I come across something that kind of makes me cross.  Today it was when I was passing through a pretty glen with lush foliage providing welcome relief from the heat.  I could hear a stream bubbling excitedly so I stopped on the footbridge to soak up the prettiness and serenity of that little spot.  Then I saw in the water below, two shopping trolleys.

Such a beautiful and yet sadly some of the inhabitants of the town have dumped shopping trolleys and all sort of plastic and other rubbish into places that would have been perfect scenes of serenity and lush countryside.  Further along a remote public footpath there was an even worse example of fly-tipping, rolls of carpet, pieces of board that looked like some kind of Ikea furniture, an armchair and a fridge-freezer had been hurled down a little ravine.  Eeeeeed-yats!

Ay ay ay!  If I were given the superpower of being anyone’s mum, I would take these fools and escort them to go litter picking and clear up their mess.  I would confiscate anything precious to them – phones, cars, lap-top, X-box, I don’t care…I would be completely ruthless.  Then I would take them stadium cleaning with me.  They would have to scrape the gum from seats and sweep, mop, dust and wipe until they had an idea of how much better it would have been had they taken their rubbish to an appropriate place.

That is not something I have not done myself.  I have helped to clean several massive stadiums, Bolton Wanderers, Manchester City, Everton, Stoke City, Wolverhampton, Bournemnouth, Twickenham…as well as indoor arenas.  Actually I love it, a team of a thousand descend and work like an army of ants.  It’s quite a sight to behold.

Aaaaah…I am going to shrug this one off and concentrate on all the prettiness I saw today.

Cue holiday spam:

Oh if you had been free for the afternoon, I am sure you would have loved the panoramic views.  We had Winter Hill on one side of us and then the view from Blackpool Tower all the way down to Liverpool Docks and the city center.  My friends claimed the hills of North Wales were visible, but it was not a clear enough day to discern them with clarity.  Still I am sure they were there.