Friday, August 7, 2020

Hendon in the Heat

It was very warm yesterday. I couldn't even bring myself to eat much lunch -- I had some crackers and hummus and some leftover cold vegetables. Today it's supposed to hit 97º F (36º C).

Despite the heat, once again needing to get out of the house, I took a walk up to Hendon and Golders Green. I really need to take local walks more regularly, at least until work begins when I'll be walking to and from school every day. I haven't gained much weight during lockdown but I just feel less fit in general. So, yes, exercise!

It's a good time of year for a walk through residential areas, where everyone's gardens are blooming -- some in a big way. I would love to grow sunflowers like this but I don't think any spot in our garden is sunny enough.

I walked through Hendon Park, where there is a garden in memory of persecuted people all over the world, and a gate specifically memorializing Holocaust victims. (Hendon and nearby Golders Green are historically very Jewish neighborhoods.) Can anyone who reads Hebrew tell me what it says?

While in the park, I stopped at the cafe for a coffee, and a guy behind the counter was wearing a black t-shirt depicting a figure kneeling in front of an American flag and the words, "It was never about the flag. Take a knee." I told him I liked his shirt, and he turned out to be from Queens! So we had a chat about living in New York. Funny.

I took my coffee to a park bench, where I sat until a runner jogged up behind me and asked if she could sit on the other end of the bench. That seemed a little too close for comfort but how could I say no? It's a public bench! So I said yes, and she sat and panted for a while, and I stayed only as long as was polite before I kept walking.

In a park along Dollis Brook I found these deteriorating pavilions overlooking a water-control structure. (A sluice? A weir?) The whole area is suffering from a sense of neglect. I'm sure Barnet council struggles with expenses, especially in these times of austerity, but I counted two bicycles, several chairs and numerous shopping carts in the river, and it seems like someone could get a crew in there to clean those up, at least.

Sometimes the debris can be photographically interesting.

I wandered along, watching speckled wood butterflies and picking an occasional blackberry from the thousands on the bushes lining the path.

I walked the Capital Ring through the same area almost exactly a year ago. I found some interesting bird life in the ponds, and then walked through the fields where last year I found the funky camper (or as the English would say, caravan). The camper is gone now.

I came back home along Finchley Road through Golders Green, feeling much better for having had some exercise.

17 comments:

  1. Some exercise and a fascinating walk

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  2. It's good to get out and about, even when the weather is knock-down hot.
    Here in Australia we have a volunteer organisation called Clean Up Australia. Maybe you could start a small local clean up organisation. :)
    The sunflowers are as high as an elephant's eye...
    Alphie

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  3. It is good to get proper walking exercise. Will or won't you have to return to school? It must have been nice to come across a guy from Queens. You NYC people must feel a connection.

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  4. I would have told the coffee guy that I liked his shirt too. Glad you got to have a nice chat with another New Yorker.
    Love the heron.
    Someone just said recently on a blog (I think) that one almost never regrets taking a walk. It's so true. I am going to have a hard time getting back in shape when these ribs heal. Not looking forward to finding out how far I've backslid in the fitness department.

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  5. I've never had much luck growing the sunflowers. Mine would always fall over from their weight. I love the bird photo. It's too bad that such a beautiful area has been left to deteriorate so. Your reader is right, maybe a volunteer group could clean up the area. It would certainly benefit everyone. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

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  6. 97 degrees in London is a bit too warm. It seems there is a heat wave in lots of places right now. Those old pavilions are interesting. I wonder what they were used for. That must have been fun to run into someone from New York.

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  7. nice walk. those sunflowers look great. I could probably have told you what the Hebrew says at one time but no longer. I wonder what those turret things were meant to be for. and a weir is a low water dam.

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  8. Great photos. It took me a moment to figure out the tipped over trolley--but love the perfection of the reflection. :) The Heron is a beauty, too.

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  9. Yes the walk in your area did provide some good photos and people.

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  10. That was a wonderful walk. Love these photos.
    I've been thinking about growing sunflowers next year, if I could only remember in time to get the seeds or starts in. My memory these days ain't what it used to be.

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  11. What A Peacefully Illustrated Post - Thanx Brother Steve - So Damn Refreshing - Stay Cool And Walk On

    Cheers
    P.S. Please Hide Olga Girl An Uncle T Biscuit

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  12. Great Blue Herons fascinate me with how calm they are around humans. So beautiful. I was curious. Had no idea what that Hebrew lettering on the arch meant. I found it online: The arch was installed by Barnet Council in 2000. An accompanying plaque explains that the lettering is a Hebrew word, pronounced "Lezikaron", whose meaning refers to both remembering the past and looking forwards. The arch was designed and crafted by John Creed of Glasgow.

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  13. A good walk and some good photos. Those sunflowers are awesome. And that bird appears to be "doing a flamingo", i.e. standing on one leg with the other pulled up. Or does he have only one leg. I took the pic to a photo editing site to see it closer but couldn't tell.

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  14. That's really hot for you! We're still having above average temperatures and we are really tired of it. Going outside is just not possible after 9:00 in the morning. Neither of us are early risers, so the 7:00 rides have been difficult.

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  15. 97 in London! Wow that's hot. And I bet you don't have air conditioning. I go on walks everyday too. Today I did a five miler. I don't take Murphy in the heat though..it's too much for him.

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  16. Well done on your walk in that heat. I can't do it - I have to wait until nearly dark and some of these humid days I can't even do it then.

    I went online to look up how fast it takes to lose fitness levels, as I thought I'd read two weeks. The result that came up that astounded me was a University of Texas study that showed runners begin to lose their fitness at 47 to 72 hours -- and it takes them two days of retraining for every single day missed to get back to their previous level. Wow.

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  17. GZ: Indeed!

    Alphie: I've often thought about joining one of the local clean-up groups for the parks near us (nearer than the one in this post). I should look into it.

    Andrew: As of now, we're still returning to school in just a few weeks.

    Ms Moon: In Florida, in the summer, I can imagine regretting taking a walk!

    Edna: I've never tried giant sunflowers like those -- only the relatively small ones that grow from bird seed. (At least, ours were small!)

    Sharon: I think they're just meant to beautify the park. It's a shame they've been allowed to deteriorate so badly.

    Ellen: I suppose this could qualify as a weir, but it's got an opening in the middle -- a kind of channel.

    Mary: I think sometimes a good photo requires the viewer to look at it more closely to figure out what's being depicted. So maybe that qualifies!

    Red: It did!

    Robin: That's the tricky thing with seeds -- getting them going at the right time. I started my sweet peas too late this year and we're still waiting for blooms from some of them.

    Padre: Glad you liked it! Olga has received many treats in your name. :)

    Mitchell: Wow! Thanks for the research! The funny thing is, I saw that accompanying plaque, but clearly I didn't read it all the way through -- I only saw that the gate commemorated the Holocaust. Thanks for that!

    Catalyst: I'm assuming he has one leg pulled up, though you can't see that leg at all. I think it's buried in his feathers.

    Allison: Yeah, this time of year can be a bit challenging! Hold on for just another month or two!

    Michael: Yep, no a/c here. Fortunately the houses are very well ventilated with a lot of windows.

    Jenny-O: That seems like it must be a very incremental loss. When I was running and working out, I used to find that I could skip a week or two (if I traveled, for example) without any significant changes.

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