Although the Autumn Equinox isn't until 22/23 September, the leaves are already turning and falling. In fact, Autumn used to be called Fall here in England during the 17th century, and I know it is the term still popularly used in America for this glorious season of the year. My youngest asked me to take a picture of him with this yellow Maple leaf this afternoon on my Wednesday walk in our local park. I was planning on a walk along the Thames river but the universe had other plans for me, and so a Thames walk will have to wait for next week 😊.
On the drive to fetch my boys from school, I found myself stopped in a queue of cars outside the park, with a van at the front. The cause of the traffic jam; a small black Daschund stood in the middle of the road, looking rather bewildered and not budging. The van driver got out and approached the poor thing but it got scared and ran across the road and up the path into the park. I was so torn as to what to do... pull over and go find the dog or continue and go fetch my boys from school? Already running slightly late, I had little time to think as I was holding up traffic myself and so pushed on to the school intent on coming straight back to look for the dog, and if I found him, to take him to our local vet for a microchip check.
I popped a note on our local village chat in case he was still missing (his human family may well have been in the park with him and found him already) so that people would know his last whereabouts, and 25 minutes later, kids in tow, I arrived back at the park and we went in search of the little guy. Sadly despite searching for about an hour and a half, and asking around, nobody had seen him and we saw no sign of him either😢
We walked down the "secret" pathway on the far right-hand side of the park, in the area I had seen the dog heading.
We walked the length and breadth of the park even exiting the top end to go and have a look around the Park Hall site.
The kids looked under the "Christmas tree" too. It's a gorgeous big tree in front of the Hall entrance that is decorated every year for the festive season. The village has an evening of Christmas caroling around the tree and a visit from Santa too.
Behind the Park Hall is a War memorial to the local fallen soldiers of WWII. The kids spent some time walking around it and examining the plaques with all the names and looking at the large poppy garlands at the foot of the memorial statue.
Walking the perimeter I saw a man seated on a bench with his back to us and his guitar leaning against the back of the bench. I couldn't resist surreptitiously getting a quick pic, with my youngest almost blowing my cover! "Mummy, what are you doing taking a picture of that man and his guitar?" at a volume reserved solely for the use of children🤣 I knelt down beside him and explained what I was doing artistically and asked that he didn't share "everything" with the world around us as I didn't want the gentleman to get annoyed with us. At this, my son looked at me quizzically and then at the same volume said "Mummy, why are you taking photos of that boring big building in front of the man with the guitar?" 😂😝🙄🎻
We did a little nosy around the bushes and nearby tree clusters and we were just about to head back into the park to finish our search for the dog there when the gentleman on the bench, who was now strumming his guitar, called us over. He was curious as to what we were looking for and after we told him, he replied, " I tell you what, I found a cat the other day". He spoke really slowly and seemed to struggle a bit with communication and I could see that he had some form of disability, but he seemed lonely and just wanted to chat for a bit so we stayed for a few minutes before going back into the park.
We ended up at the children's mini playground on the far end of the park. It's really for little ones but there was nobody else around when we arrived so my 8 and 10 year old boys jumped in and had a go on the swings, see-saw, and slide🙃
Then a bit of people and dog watching on the way back to the car.
This last watercolour at my eldest's insistence after we returned home. It was his creative staging effort 💗
After the first "watercolour" effect I used on my photos (which I came across quite by accident on my phone), the kids were quite taken and wanted to do lots of different poses for me "in watercolour" in the park! And so I thought it only appropriate to post our Wednesday Walk photos in "watercolour" effect as, aside from the missing dog, this was the theme that drove the afternoon activities on our walk.
Here are a few with other effects that we tried:
I really enjoyed this read :)
Fall is my favorite season but it makes me sad that it’s the shortest. I wish I could enjoy the color changing leaves a lot longer.
Lol that is something my sons would have did too. My two oldest boys talk so loud all the time so I get it haha.
I really love the watercolor effect you used, it really made your day look even more adventurous!! That was really sweet of you all to talk with the man on the bench, I’m sure that made his day.
Thanks so much for sharing ~
I hear you re Fall. I love it too. And it certainly does feel as though we go from summer straight to winter here sometimes. The leaves turn quickly and before you know it there is just a mush of wet leaves gathering around the foot of the trees, and strewn across lawns. We have to mow them all up quickly to avoid the grass dying back too soon. I wish the colour could linger longer in the trees. I guess I enjoy all the seasons for different reasons although being in the UK, but originally from South Africa, I live for the summer ;-)
Yes, it would be so awesome if the colors could linger much longer in the trees.
Oh cool! Spring is my favorite season since it's not too hot or cold but just right ;D
Kids hey! 🤣😝
It was a good day to explore. My kids bother me if I take too long to shoot a picture. They just want to run wild. It looks like you have a good neighborhood for running around and being a kid. I kind of miss that about America. I hope this Corona thing passes fast and we can visit our family there.
Yeah it was lovely. We are very fortunate to have some lovely walks around us, from Forests to Rivers to lovely big parks like this one! Now, if we had a mountain or two on my doorstep, I'd be in Heaven🙏💗 I hear you re the kids; no patience usually for photos. I have to practically beg for family pics when we are out and about lol
I had an interesting read from your Wednesday walk, and your kid has to blow your cover lol,
The water color makes the whole pictures looks captivating as well.
Thank you @funshee. I'll go back to posting proper photos but this was just a bit of fun with my kids hee hee ...but yeah I liked it for a change.
Haha, what an amazing time y'all had. Felt like I was reading something from a book coupled with the water colored images you used. It's quite fascinating, and I kept hoping you would be a able to find the dog.
You had a lot of fun I could see and your young boy's curiosity made me laugh 😂, the boy almost blew your cover and I'm sure he had a lot of questions to ask, he's quite the inquisitive bit.
Thanks for sharing your amazing Wednesday walk with me @samsmith1971
Cheers Chinco. We had a fun afternoon in the sunshine. It's still quite nice and warm here. That kid of mine is a right nutter!😂 He doesn't do subtlety very well, he's loud and never stops moving! A handful at times but boy does he give the best hugs ever💗
Lol, I wish I was there too, it's already really dark over here. I'm still awake because I just can't sleep.
I like a kid like that, you'll have to keep an eye on him though, he'll do great.
Awnnnn, it must be a really good feeling when he hugs you all the love in the world. Must be an amazing feeling.
That it is. It's really late here now too. Just gone 2am and I should be in bed already but...Hive😂😂😂
😂😂, wow it's almost same time here..it's 2:17 am. Lol, the Hive is really addictive and very sweet to navigate at night when it's really quiet and you have the time all to yourself.
I really need to get to bed because I have classes tomorrow.
I love the water color effect gives a fun surreal feel
Kids sure say things louder than we want at times don’t they lol
Thanks for joining Wednesday Walk :), I truly enjoy exploring the world virtually each Wednesday seeing walks from all around the globe and feeling I am there and experiencing it all myself, such as I did in your post just now :)
Do if you have time check out some of the other walk posts, its like a wee break from your day to day reality
Thanks for stopping by @tattoodjay. I came to take part in the Wednesday walk because I genuinely love reading those of others ;-) Exploring their worlds virtually as they go about their day, gives me a little window into their lives and the diversity of culture and experience across the globe. It's joyful and fabulous! And I feel like I learn so much at the same time!
That’s exactly as I feel visiting the posts not that I say it as well as you just did
You say it superbly, don't knock your talent lol
Thanks your always so kind but I do know my weaknesses and my strengths so we can agree to differ lOL
Wow excellent photography editing skills. Really liked the look of the water-coloured photos.
Thanks for sharing your day with us! You've gained a new supporter WOOOOO!
lols thank you although I can't take too much credit. The Samsung phone app takes care of most of it for me. I just needed to know how to navigate the app ;-) But I'm glad you appreciated the effort 🙏😃
UPDATE: I received a response from my local village Facebook page that the little dog has been found and reunited with her owner. Apparently, she is blind and deaf and the owner was frantically looking for her in the park. So it was fortunate that she ran back into the park as they were then reunited. So pleased it had a happy ending🙏
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