A walk in THE Park

 

There is a park in Maribor that is referred to as THE Park.  When people want to meet up, they just say, "Meet you at the Pavilion,"  which is a gazebo near the entrance to The Park.  Everybody knows where it is, and there is a non-stop flow of people meandering over to it, meeting, and meandering off.

Yesterday was a warm, partly cloudy day, so we joined many others in enjoying THE Park.  The leaves were beautiful.

This is my attempt at art.

This is another.  This tree was leaning, so the maintenance people put up wooden braces to hold it up.  I thought the trunk was worthy of a photo.  What do you think?

Here she is waiting for her friend, and taking one of the many phone calls she gets (mostly due to her position as mission nurse).

We were meeting a nice lady who has been discussing the church with the missionaries for years.  Liz has become good friends with her, so she met up with her friend while I went on a photographic journey.  I met them all on my way back.

This is the entrance to the park.  This part is a gentle slope up the hill.  At the end of this path there are steps, then steeper inclines leading to a series of four lakes.

This is the first lake.  There are benches all along the banks of the lakes.  This paved trail is the one used most often, but there is a simple, gravel trail on the other side, running beyond the trees.  I like that idea.  It makes it so you can walk along this side and enjoy the lake and trees, or you can skulk along the other side while under cover.

This is a photo of the paved path, taken from the other side of the lake.  There were very few places where there was a clear view of the far side of the lake from this path.  It is more of a nature trail.

This is the upper lake.  I love this scene.  It is the reason I took this walk.

The paved path ends here.  Going around this lake, you have to walk on gravel on either side. 

This is the same location, but I used my newly-functioning large lens to zero in on the willow tree and the castle on the hill beyond (outside the park).   This place simply makes my heart sing.

This is from the far side of the same lake, looking back toward where I took the previous photos.  From here, you can see that the pine tree is on a little island - a fact not noticeable at first view.  

This was taken from under the willow tree.   "There is beauty all around."

Evening was approaching, so the light was constantly changing as the sun got lower and the clouds moved by.

As I walked around the lake, pausing to change lenses, sitting on the benches to just enjoy the cool breeze and the smell of the falling leaves, I felt the love of my God in my life.  We are so very blessed to be able to spend two years in this wonderful part of the World.  We are privileged to assist the people here.  I think of that wonderful song by Louis Armstrong:  "And what a wonderful life!  Oh, Yeah."