A time to explore and soak up the essence of the park
The movement within and in and around
Human and more than human
Us interacting
Observing
Senses open and heighten
Tuning in to voices and dialogues
Sounds of many languages; most unknown to our ears
A black African man, wearing a long white robe and a pillar cap, sits on a bench
He talks on his phone in his own language, in the shade of an ash tree
It’s Eid
The park is alive with people celebrating
Salwar chemise
Bright colours
Picnics on blankets on the ground
Families, together
Eating and chuntering
Children playing around them
In the playground, picnics lain across picnic benches
Children playing on rustic equipment
A group of black women gather around a picnic table laden with food and snacks
Reggae music plays, they sing along and sway in time to the tunes
During our first two days we were inconspicuous: non-differentiated from others in the park
We blended and melded in with office workers on their lunch break, sunbathers and tree bathers, individuals sitting on the grass and on the benches, reading, texting, talking
The couples
The groups of friends
People with clear plastic, dome lidded, cups with paper straws
Sucking cold drinks from Nero’s and Hortons across the Oxford Road
Stepping outside of the park parameter to buy refreshments, the heat of the sun and the city and the tarmac stifle
The air is heavy and hot
How different in the park
With mature trees giving shade and breeze
Ash and London Plane lined avenues
The air noticeably, palpably, different
Fresher
Cooler – by far
Sweeter
Our last two days we were twinned in matching outfits
Green dungarees
Yellow tops
Our actions and explorations more visible
We drew an ash under an ash, across the path
Over there
Leaning against a broad ash trunk
Two men, with a wayfarer appearance about them, drinking beer
The men confab and laugh whilst their dog, laid on its back, tummy to the canopy and sky, kicks her legs excitedly in the air – for ages
An action she repeats.
They beckoned and said don’t mind her, come closer
I did
We chatted about the joys a dog brings
Connecting with people as a human act: not research, but casual encounters
Connecting with the more than human
Sharings of joy
Being in the park
Whitworth Park
Is much more than a research process
It’s about being
Being here
Hanging out
Deep hanging out
Nongkrong
