Autumn walk to the park

Acorns litter the pathway up to the lake, some are smooth like veneered wood, others are lime green ovals. The first coppery leaves appeared on the massive beech tree opposite the clearnings. Squirrels dash up and down branches, splitting conkers from the chestnut trees by the stream.

Scrubs appear sparser than the lush months of June July and August. In just a few days the ground seems to have shrunk back like the earth is contracting. I meet one of the regular dog walkers, she holds a lead in her hand and is calling out for a lost dog. She tells me she is looking for her neighbour’s dog who ran out of the house and into the park about twenty minutes earlier.

At the entrance to the park is a discarded pink and white plastic scooter. The bell from the front of the scooter has broken and has been tossed beside it.  I take the scooter and prop it up by the bin so the park rangers can collect it.

Bluetits, magpies, crows and blackbirds are eating seeds left on a white plastic tray which balances on a tree stump by Nick’s View, a popular place to sit and take in the landscape.