A Day At The Park

I wonder what - if anything - this posting will be able to do for me when I am eventually going to re-read it on a cold, wet and dark winter day. Will it be soothing, remembering how good such a day is for my overall wellbeing, knowing that at some stage the sun will be back, or is it rather going to make me sad and restless with a longing that can't be fulfilled until many months later?

For now, I am content in the way only a sunny day spent without any schedule to observe, any pressure can make me.

It's been a fantastic fun-filled weekend in my town with the International Street Music Festival having taken place. For three nights in a row, I've been to the festival and enjoyed the music of 40 different bands from all over the world.

Today, in Germany it's been a day off for most people, including myself, it being Pentecost Monday.
When I woke up, I felt a bit flat at first; sad that the festival was over and I had had to say good-bye to my musician friends last night. But once I saw the gorgeous weather out there, I was determined to make the most of this day, and go to the park.

(View from my kitchen window this morning)

So I got everything ready I was going to need:

my paper (it arrives each Thursday, but I hardly ever read it before the weekend), a blanket, something to eat and something to drink.
As for the food, I decided to make myself a tomato-mozzarella-sandwich. You can see all the ingredients in the picture. My mum baked the bread on Saturday. The basil is always fresh from the pot; the mozzarella and "olive" tomatoes (named that way because they are similar in shape and size to olives) were from the supermarket.

Doesn't it look appetizing? It's a shame I can not transmit the scent along with the picture; fresh basil is so nice!

Wearing my bikini underneath the summer dress, I was soon set to leave.

After a twenty minute walk, I arrived at the park.

This meadow behind the small castle is where I often go when I want to spend some quiet time in the sun away from the hubbub and noise of the town.
I like the spot near the bench, as I can put my bag with the water bottle and sandwich underneath in the shade.

The next hours I spent sunbathing, reading my paper, more sunbathing and occasionally snoozing.

Many birds live in the park, and their song, along with the buzz of an insect and the low comfortable murmur of people walking past in the distance, provided the acoustic background, while the first sight each time I opened my eyes was that of the buttercups and daisies in the green, green grass.

It was during one such snoozing period that, half asleep, I heard an odd noise quite close to my ears. It was a sound that I can closest describe as grunting - only that it was no grunting!

When I opened my eyes and fumbled for my specs, I found that a small group of the mufflon sheep that live in the park had come to sniff at my blanket!

As soon as I was stirring, they gallopped off to the far end of the meadow and disappeared among the trees. By the time I managed to grab my camera, they were already quite far away.

Only when I had nothing left to eat and drink, and finished my paper and really had soaked up enough sun for the day, I walked home.

Somehow, I find it difficult right now to imagine myself back at the office tomorrow...