Stroud from Park Gardens

After work, which was uneventful apart from a fire drill (the children were brilliant) I walked along Slad road in the sunshine to return a book to friend GS. Met friend J in the street, as arranged, and we decided to get a takeaway drink to enjoy in Park Gardens, on the Uplands side of Slad road. When I lived along the road, the planting in Park Gardens was definitely dull and municipal, but now there are box hedges and much more natural looking plants. It's become a beautiful place to spend time, as well as a green lung.

I wanted to capture the two boxy shapes: the war memorial at the bottom of the park and the Brutalist concrete police station atop the hill, on the left. In fact the light was so strong that neither stands out. Mostly rooftops and the spire of St Laurence's church.

We spent a couple of hours there, then wandered through town, before going our separate ways. A friend who had been trying to contact me all afternoon finally got through when I got home, and pitched up for a chat in the garden. She wants me to meet someone tomorrow, face to face. How on earth do I do that? No one can even see my face, my hair has grown so long.

I've dug out some clothes (what in earth did we use to wear, and why have I got so many pairs of trousers in completely different sizes?) and even polished some shoes. My Goodness, who ever thought that the idea of an actual meeting, as opposed to a video meeting, could be so challenging?

After that I had supper and watched the News, before going off to a staff meeting on Teams that went on for about an hour longer than expected. Living on the edge, aren't we, safe in our video-call world and wearing ripped jeans and an old grey fleece at work, daunted by having to dress up or do anything different. For J, it was an adventure just to do anything as normal as drinking tea in the park. I just wanted an ice cream...