It was the last day of summer, the day when the sun was about to move into Libra so that by the time evening came it would officially be autumn with forecasts of rain and chill winds. We decided it was a good day to go for a trip out. There's a country park that we've never visited called Watermead and it's only about 20 minutes away. It has clearly marked and measured walks around a series of artificial lakes in an area of low-lying land, shielded from the extremes of weather. I worked out the route and we set off but things don't always go the way you plan them.
Do you ever get in the car, drive off and arrive at your destination but can't remember how you got there? Well, on this last day of summer my car took that experience one step further. I turned onto the A50, pulled in for petrol (with face mask in place and copious lashing of hand gel at the ready) and was just pulling out of the petrol station when I turned to Mr A and said, 'Why are we on the A50? What are we doing here?' (A scarily senior moment or has my car taken control?) Somewhere along the way I had taken a wrong turning so that now we weren't heading for Watermead Country Park. We were heading for Bradgate.
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This was a good mistake - the car must have known what it was doing. Bradgate Park is in an area of ancient volcanic rock outcrops. I drove to the top car park next to Cropston Reservoir and we walked up to the very top of one of the outcrops. We gasped for breath. We admired the view of ferns and deer and distant fields. We sweltered in the heat and thoroughly enjoyed our trip out. Bradgate Park is best visited on the kind of day when the sun has not quite entered Libra.
That was yesterday. Today it is definitely autumn. It looks and feels like autumn. Our next trip out will be to Watermead and I suspect we'll be grateful for somewhere low-lying and shielded from the extremes of weather. Everything, it would seem, happens for a reason.
