Easter in Essex

When I lived in Germany, there was a definite need to get away for the four day Easter weekend as the stores were chaos on Thursday and Saturday due to being closed the other days. Without family in Germany and with friends away, four days off wasn't such a great deal when everything including the museums was closed. I guess it's always nice to be able to sleep in and read books though.

Here in my corner of the UK, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were considered 'normal' days. Sunday everything was closed. On Monday, many stores were open.

I took yesterday and today as study days, I have a work certification exam coming up. However, I nipped out for some fresh air today. It was cold and windy, but the showers held off:

Beyond the green grass and some daffodils and impatients in town, I cannot see so many signs of spring, so I had to take a photo of the one I did see:

This fellow was crossing the path, so I tried out my 'close-up' mode:

It's still chilly here, though. I saw dogs out on their walk wearing coats and people in hats and scarves. (Tapping fingers) Can't wait to be able to jump into the full swing of gardening.

My morning commute

I walk about five minutes from the center of town to enter the park.

Most people are coming into town to work or catch the train to London while I'm heading out of town.

After about 15 minutes through the park, I continue on pedestrian paths.

The pedestrian paths finally end in a cute little neighborhood.

The final ten minutes are industrial areas similar to what you'd see on the intro to the Sopranos, so we'll skip those photos. :-)

A little over two miles each way, twice a day, usually four days a week = 16 miles of walking/week for the purpose of 'commuting to/from work'.

On each trip I burn approximately 145 calories for my walking speed/weight.