Stairway to Heaven

 

Yet another beautiful spring day today; but they say colder weather is to be expected again tomorrow, and probably even snow... After lunch I set out on a walk without any clear idea of where to go. I walked towards town along the river but my legs and brain conspired along the way (as they often do) and ended up taking me up to the top of the city park to explore the recent changes made there, with some new stairs and paths - and, as it turned out, at the very top of the hill also a new lookout platform with views over the city.

▲Looking south, one sees our two tallest buildings (apartment blocks) sticking up over the trees. (I live some distance to the west of those, out of the picture to the right.)

▲Looking east, and down: A public swimming hall + parking lot. ▼ 

 

▲Looking north: A mini "adventure" golf course (not new), also on top of the hill.

▲ Looking down and north from the golf course ▼

(Zooming in the mural from a bit further downhill.)

▲ View from the golf course towards south-west, overlooking the new path downhill. And having walked down that, to get back home I turned left at the white building you see in the background, and then walked on another 15 minutes or so in that direction.

Weekend Street/Reflections

 

Another sunny early spring afternoon today, and I went for a walk downtown to the city park (Borås, Sweden).

 

They have recently finished a project of reconstructing some of the paths within the park (to make some of the upper parts more easily accessible, I think - but I did not go up to the top to explore that further today).

 

I often walk here, so regular visitors to this blog will no doubt recognise some of the views and buildings - but I can never resist taking yet another photo on a good "reflection" day...

 

Besides what happens in nature, one of the true signs of spring is to see the terraces of the street cafés along the river full of people again...

 

... and also people sitting on park benches, and on the stone steps leading down to the water.

 

This is a bit blurry because it's a selfie reflection photo taken towards one of the curved and tinted windows in the café building in the park.

 

 The big green bunny is looking a bit extra sad as he seems to have damaged one eye over winter.

 

 

Could this be the smallest crocus in the world?? It was only about the size of my thumbnail, and definitely the smallest one I've ever seen in this corner of the world, anyway...  I might also add that it was also the only crocus in bloom that I found on my walk today.

 

I also passed by these snow drops planted along the river on my way back home, though. 

 

Linking to Weekend/Street Reflections #215

Progress

The difference that one sunny day can make this time of year... (Photos from the same flower bed as in yesterday's post.)

Today must also have been the warmest day here yet this year, + 11'C (52'F). Even if it's likely to get colder again next week, spring is definitely making progress.

My strained knee is better but I did not feel not sure it would be up for walking all the way into town and back just yet. I managed my usual short Friday walk in the opposite direction to dispose of some recycling stuff in the right bins though; plus a bit of an extended detour on the way back.

 Cars waiting for a train to pass at the railway crossing.

View from a shortcut woodland footpath connecting two streets.

Signs of Spring

 

Snowdrops can now be found in several flowerbeds around where I live, but today I also found the first tiny buds of yellow and blue crocuses in a particularly sunny spot. (In spite of the sun not really showing its face much this week.)

 

A different sign of spring could also be seen and heard around my neighbourhood today:
A street sweeper collecting the winter gravel from the walk/cycle paths.

Snowdrops and Soap Operas

 

Strong winds blowing + a slightly overexerted knee has kept me mostly indoors over the past few days. I've been out for occasional short walks (as just keeping still is not good either) but I have kept close to home. 

At home, I may have been following a few too many newscasts and discussions (on both radio and TV) about the latest developments in world politics - hoping to hear someone come up with explanations that make sense; but so far I can't say that's happened. (Not making sense in my brain, anyway.) It still feels more like watching a soap opera; but knowing that unfortunately this one is supposed to be "real".

"A soap opera is a television or radio program that airs in episodic series. This means that each episode continues telling a story, which, in turn, tells more of the last episode's story. A single story on a soap opera can be told for weeks, months, or sometimes even years."
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera

I prefer the fictional kind. Those may sometimes be hard to make sense of as well; but there it doesn't matter, as one knows from start that it's all just pretend anyway...

AI generated image.