So, how to wrap up the ninth month of the year 2022?
September is the month when I started Some Photoblog, back in 2015. September marks the transition from summer to autumn. The first autumn leaves appear, that phenomenon that makes poets pick up their pens and photographers their camera. And painters their brush.
transformative
adjective
causing a marked change in someone or something
(from Google)
Queen Elizabeth saw Liz Truss becoming prime minister, said this is too much, and bowed out.
And I discovered mushrooms grow in my local park.
The blogger on the first day of the month is the same person as the blogger at the end of the month, but she has been through something… transformative. (Refer to my previous two posts.)
But she is still taking pictures with her smartphone in the park. Because that is what she does.
I have mentioned, here and there on this blog, that I suffer from anxiety. I have so for my whole life. But it wasn’t until summer 2022 that I finally got help. (I was actually contacting my doctor regarding ADHD, which I’m sure I’ve got, but because I scored so high on anxiety in a questionnaire, I was referred to mental health services for it.) The six sessions I had with my practitioner included some helpful tips for when that dreaded feeling rears its head again. One of them was a mindful activity.
A clump of trees in my local park became my favourite place to do this exercise. It just means using your five senses to be aware of your surroundings.
September is such a month. The last remains of the summer are still present, but autumn slowly creeps in. Can’t wait for the colourful glory of this season!
Days are getting shorter, air is crispier, leaves are turning. Appropriately, Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge is titled Summer’s End. This is my little contribution.
Pictures taken by smartphone in my local park.
Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.
I’ve been running this blog for seven years and nothing has featured here more than pictures taken from my living room window. Mostly of skies, but sometimes of the big tree that grows by my house. You’d think I’d know everything there is to know about the tree (except what it actually is as I have zero knowledge of botany). Starlings hang out on its branches, as well as crows. The tree is also good for observing the changing seasons. In spring, when the leaves start growing, in autumn, when they turn and eventually fall. However, it wasn’t until September 2022 that I, for the first time, noticed that…
You are invited to Heaton Hall, the country seat of Lord Ballingdon, for a weekend of good old fashioned fun.
The house is imposing and painted cheerful yellow.
After dinner, the host informs his guests he prepared a fun murder mystery game. It kicks off the next morning.
And so the next morning, after breakfast–rich, delicious full English–Lord Ballingdon gives his instructions.
You are to find the dead body.
It is no easy task. The grounds are vast and the body could be anywhere.
But that doesn’t discourage you. Let’s start!
Careful it gets steep!
You think the body might have rolled down this hill. But there’s nothing at the bottom.
Ooh look, a bench! Not very comfortable sitting on that stone. You reckon the victim must have sat here at some point, before they were killed.
Careful now!
Were they pushed off the ha-ha? If so, the murderer must have moved the body because it is not here.
You check under the ferns for clues. Nothing here.
Aaah, look, a folly. You bet that’s where the body was hidden.
The folly is locked. You peer through the windows, but the only thing you see is a broken electric heater.
It occurs to you that the body might actually be inside the house. Your host never said it was on the grounds.
Hmmm, your host… This is the first time you’ve been invited to Lord Ballingdon’s party. You’ve heard of him a lot, of course, everyone gushes how entertaining he is, people leave his gatherings with smiles on their faces. And he’s so charming! “He’s the biggest prankster I’ve ever met,” says your cousin, and coming from him, it means something. Your cousin has been playing pranks on people since he was eight.
Prankster. Of course!
You got it. Murder? Here’s the murder:
Lord Ballingdon bursts into booming laughter. You win the game.
Pictures are from Heaton Park in Manchester. The house is indeed called Heaton Hall, but it is not a seat of any lord, as it belongs to the city council. Lord Ballingdon is a fictional character. No murder mystery games take place at Heaton Park, however the place does share initials with the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, so make of it what you will.
Some Photoblog 