Waterway Walking

Walking among trees is a particular pleasure on these sunny autumn days. I try to walk for 20-30 minutes every day, and it’s always good to have a destination such as the library, the postbox, or the Art Gallery. On days when none of these is required I walk beside the river, around the Avon Loop, on what used to be Oxford Terrace. If I have plenty of energy and time I return along the Cambridge Terrace side of the river. When I need to have a shorter walk I come home along Kilmore Street.

There are usually other people on the river path. Some are running, some pushing baby buggies, some accompanied by dogs. I always give a greeting, except to those who are concentrating on phones. Most respond, and some stop to make conversation.

If it’s a weekday there will be the happy sound of small children playing in the pre-school at the south-east end of the Loop. There’s usually litter to be collected and deposited in the nearest bin. Lately I’ve contemplated the idea of wearing gloves and carrying a rubbish bag for the more objectionable items, but haven’t yet done so. Today there were several shot glasses on the roadside (which I didn’t pick up) and it occurred to me to wonder whether the litterers could be identified by their DNA.

It’s always a delight to admire the trees and the birds (except perhaps the Canada Geese who leave unpleasant deposits on the path).

Willow tree in the sun

Autumn leaves

Today there was a sleeping bag wedged under the arm of a bench and I wondered whether someone had slept outside last night when the temperature went down to a freezing 0 degrees.

Sleeping bag

When I arrive home I reward my exercise by doing the daily Wordle. Today I failed to guess it within the allotted six tries. A couple of other times I’ve needed to ask a friend to give me a clue, but this is the first time I’ve failed completely, and I realised I hadn’t been concentrating hard enough on the letters I’d already confirmed. Maybe I’ll do better tomorrow.

Do you have a favourite place to walk where there are trees?

The Loop’s a pleasant place to walk,
admire the trees, and sometimes talk