A walk in the park.

Autumn is like a second spring when every leaf is a flower.        ~ Albert Camus

The leaves aren’t quite flowers yet.  Soon, though.

We have the  great good fortune to have a beautiful little park just minutes from my neighborhood.  It’s a little too far, on a busy road, to walk.  But I’m there in less than ten minutes by car.  The grounds and buildings are immaculately maintained.  The photo here is where I pull into the parking lot.  The lower of the two flags in that of our fair state of North Carolina.  We also fly it over the state house, but unlike our neighbor South Carolina, we don’t fly the confederate flag there.  I’m thankful for that.  If we did, I would have to move.

The lake is the park’s centerpiece.  I walked around the lake twice.  It was a grumpy, slow day for me.  That’s why I went to the park.  Normally I walk four times around but just the two made me feel better.  It always does. 

Even the ducks were sluggish.  I think those are ducks.  I guess the much-cooler weather has slowed them down.  They looked as if they were basking in the sun to stay warm.  They didn’t seem to mind my presence among them.  I guess I was too quiet and slow-moving to be a threat.  I was moving like a slug.  I’m lucky they didn’t think I was food.

There weren’t very many people at the park.  On the left in this photo you can see what I think is a gathering of folks for a family reunion.  They were cooking something that smelled really good and they had their music playing, but it was tastefully low volume.

I took the picture on the right through the branches (trunks?) of a crape myrtle.  I still can’t get over the color of the water.  It reminds me of the seas in the Caribbean.  I was trying to hide the sign but did not succeed.  It says “Do not feed the ducks.”  I don’t know whether you have crape myrtles where you live but they are an important part of the landscape in this area.  They can have blossoms in all shades of pink, red, and purple; there are even some that bloom white.  I love them.

I imagine the rocks are strategically placed to prevent erosion.  I thought they made a beautiful contrast with the aqua-colored water.  Aqua has long been my favorite color both in nature and in clothing.  About every other t-shirt in my closet is that color or a variation of it.

On the right of the path as I finish a turn around the lake is a stand of trees, mostly oaks with a few pines.  As autumn progresses there will be some leaves in there that will become flowers.  I noticed that even in the early afternoon the shadows were longer than just a few days ago.

As I was leaving the park I stopped by the exit  to say goodbye to the baskets of lantana.  They are already looking a bit anemic, somewhat faded from their earlier zesty yellow.  To everything there is a season.

I must remind myself often that this oasis in the midst of suburban sprawl is a gem to be treasured and it never fails to make me feel better when I leave than I did when I entered.  Thank you, PP, for introducing us.

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