This is a walk in the park

A few Mondays ago was a public holiday here in Perth, Labour Day. I did enjoy my day off after a brief (several hour) stop into the office.
After the office, I walked up into King's Park, which is the largest inner-city park in the world at 1,000+ acres, including bigger than Central Park in NYC. King's Park sits on top of Mount Eliza (more like a big hill) and overlooks the Swan River, the city of Perth, and surrounding areas. I must have spent 4 hours in the park, and still want to go back for more. Here are some views from / in the park.

There were many people out and about in the park; families having picnics, people walking/running/biking, lots of kids, many tourists taking photos, people sunbathing, looking at the war memorials, eating at the cafes, etc. The weather could not have been more perfect, with the sun shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky, but the extreme heat of the past month fading into the 70s and 80s, with a nice breeze. Even with a lot of people enjoying the park (it is supposedly the most visited spot in Western Australia), upon a little exploration there were many footpaths winding through very remote areas of the park.

I just walked. I didn't listen to my iPod, I didn't talk on the phone, I didn't text or check Facebook. I just walked and listened and was alone with my thoughts, which I haven't done in a really long time and I would bet it's something you haven't done in awhile either.

The natural surroundings brought back some memories from when I was a northwoods girl instead of a city girl (or when I'm pretending to be a northwoods girl when on vacation). Things like being on the boat on Lake Metonga with mom and Nick and hearing the trees rustle when the wind blows through. Childhood memories of being on the back of my dad's 4-wheeler and Tracey on Grandpa Fred's going through some piece of land they wanted to buy, and feeling the sunlight trickling through the trees like a natural strobe light (shade, sun, shade, sun).

There's nothing wrong with feeling a little nostalgia now and again....I don't think I would be a normal person if I didn't ever have feelings of isolation under these circumstances. It is not lost on me that I put down my boss as my "in case of emergency" contact. It's funny but my walk in the park was fabulous and a little lonely at the same time. My solitude is not unique to Perth, I was alone in Chicago too (as far as being away from family), but I had a great social circle of friends. The circumstances do make me feel it a little deeper.

Back to my life in Perth - I don't want this post to worry my parents! I still love it here. I still know I made the right decision, for many reasons that I'll elaborate on in my next blog. Cheers for now.