October 10, 2010

Autumn

Yes, the leaves on the ground mean it's definitely time to say it's no longer summer, despite some fairly balmy days in the last week. Yesterday I finally walked over to Cherry Hinton Hall (the first time I've been when there was no Folk Festival in full swing), where I got to watch some very cute children feeding some worryingly large swans. When I think of Cambridge's abundance of green spaces I think of the obvious - Parker's Piece, Jesus Green, Midsummer Common - but I always wish they had a few more trees, and that's one thing Cherry Hinton Hall grounds has an abundance of. I'm thinking this is somewhere I should visit more often.

In other news, a new job just six miles from home has led to me rediscovering an old activity - cycling. Someone said to me it's the wrong time of year to start cycling again, but I think autumn is the perfect time of year, while the weather is cooling off but it's not too icy to breathe. I have to say it feels pretty liberating to be out in the fresh air instead of cooped up in my car on the A14. I love my route, which takes me across the river and through Petersfield to the station, out of town past the hospital and through the fields into the village - I love the way the character of the city changes every five minutes.

What I don't love is the way bus drivers appear to have no ideas about giving cyclists personal spaces, which is why I have today invested in a cycle helmet. The last time I owned a cycle helmet, I was 11 years old and I always took it off as soon as I was out of my parents' sight, so I guess this marks my entrance into sensible adulthood. I'm going to look sooooo cool.