Many years ago I visited parks in the UK as a weekend outing to feed squirrels. God only knows why I had to do it, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
So what's better than going to feed squirrels and getting attacked by pigeons? Said no-one ever lol. It was nice weather at least (for the UK, this is rare) and the ground was full of autumn leaves.
It had been raining the week prior (as per usual) so I wasn't sure if there would be any squirrels around, but I was pleasantly surprised when after a short walk one came out of the brush looking for food. Then the fucker climbed right up my leg while I was struggling to get the nuts out of my pocket. I swear it looked like it was going to jump right at my face. I would have screamed like a girl while clawing at the thing and probably would have flung it a good few meters away.
I've heard some screwed up shit about squirrels and racoons spreading rabies so I don't like the idea of them getting their claws or teeth into me even though it's apparently quite difficult to get it, I am not really one to play Russian roulette, especially considering rabies has no cure. I didn't know any of that at the time and of course I thought "oh how cute" before I saw the murderous glint in it's eyes
just kidding, it really wasn't interested in me, just in getting it's hands on the nuts
Luckily, as far as I know I didn't catch rabies from that little critter or any of the others that tried to accost me for food during the day out. I'm always now a bit hesitant about encounters with wild animals even if they might seem tame.
Perhaps it's just the fact that I'm older now and thinking back on that weekend, walking around the park and enjoying it just for the scenery and the jovial atmosphere of a semi sunny day there, but it felt really vivid and happy and I got quite immersed in it. There were people all around on the grass lawns sun tanning. Yes, in a public park weird shit happens when the sun shines in England and then everyone gets blinded by the reflection coming off bare skin that's almost translucent from lack of Vitamin D. No offense to the English on here, but you know it's true!
I wish for outings like that again where there were these little things that were fun. Just for the sake of it. Sure, having coffee at a restaurant is nice, but I would rather take a flask and go for a hike, get a bit lost and find a new trail that I haven't ventured down before. Try to see how many butterflies I can count or take photos of the different flowers along the way. I enjoy being away from people for the most part, but that weekend outing in the park was actually really cool and stands out in my mind. Everyone coming out to celebrate the sun shining...and I'd never been climbed like a tree by a squirrel before. Finding the white one was quite cool, but it was shy compared to the macho ones... probably because in the wild they know that they won't last a day with predators around.
I think I need to plan something cool for the weekends again.