A spring day walk in Feb

Today has been a very bright and warm day. I'm not sure why American's think British weather is crap because so far even the worst day has been miles above the Salt Lake inversion and the blizzards of Boston.

My goal today was to walk around Pittville park and check out a second-hand bookstore. The bookstore was the last thing I did, but I have to start with its photo. Moss Books. It was amazing! The sheer madness of the tiny space with an amazingly large and current volume of books just might make its way into my top five favorite bookstores. Don't go there with a particular book in mind and go wearing something you don't mind crawling around on the floor in. It's organized to a degree but it's not neat and pristine like big box bookstore. There are rows within rows within rows of books and a certain amount of bending, kneeling, and shuffling is needed to break the iceberg of books. I did find a Penguin classic of sociology terms which will come in handy for my thesis so I feel justified in wrapping this adventure up in the name of academic pursuits.

A few weeks ago, in the blog about my own personal British Invasion I talked about Emerson Lake and Palmer. One of my favorite's from them was a piece called Mars, the Bringer of War. (most awesome 70's rock cover of a classical piece ever!) A few years later, I discovered the original in The Planets, composed by Gustav Holst. He was born Sept 21, 1874 in Cheltenham. The photo on the left is his birthplace. (the door closest to you, with the little plaque on the wall.) Almost directly across the street is the entrance to Pittville Park (an unfortunate name for a lovely park). The park was created in the early 1820's. I try to imagine what it was like for little Gustav, out walking in the park, creating music in his head.




















I took lots and lots of pictures of the park, but sunny afternoons are not the best for photography and I'd like to get better shots. So stay tuned throughout the year for more Pittsville Park photos. I did however want to include these two. The one on the left, taken on Feb 8, 2011 is a batch of crocus in full bloom. There are quiet a few spring flowers already up around the park. February! I don't know if that is normal for these parts but I sure like it! The second photo is a peacock. I know the fence kind of distracts but I wanted to include it. Inside the park are three large aviary cages. I've seen peacocks in real life before but you forget just how beautiful their plumage is and with the bright sunlight shining on its iridescent blue and green feathers I just had to take a photo if only to remember it in my own mind.


















The photo below is a row of 8 "cookie cutter houses" along the road to Pittville Park. Wonder what the HOA by-laws are with those?