Yesterday was a close to perfect day. After a leisurely morning at home and some chocolate spread on toast I decided to enjoy the sun and spent the day in the park. At first I was going to go to the beach and enjoy the sea, sand and air but because it was literally a Sun-day I decided against it. You see when it’s hot, sunny and the weekend the beach fills up with loud teenagers, crying children, barking dogs, barbequing families and lobster people, those weirdos who lie out in the sun till they go bright red and then just flop over to burn the other side. I normally don’t mind but yesterday I wanted a bit more peace and quite.
I packed a small bag with a picnic for one, my camera and lenses, a book and applied a lot of suncream, not wanting to join the multitudes of lobsters walking around Dublin today. I jumped on the bus and enjoyed the short trip down the coast to my favourite park, St Anne’s. I have been going there ever since I was a little girl and love the variety and space it has to offer. As the light was beautiful and I had all the time in the world I was looking forward to taking some photos, a hobby of mine even if most of the time I have no idea what I am doing. Sadly after just a few clicks my battery told me I needed to charge it, yes I had made the vital error of not checking before I left the house.
A little annoyed with myself I decided to continue my stroll underneath the arches of the trees and enjoy the play of light and shadow. I loved how the leaves varied in their shades of green and how they were back-lit from the sun, casting shadows and shapes on the ground, trucks and branches around me. Later I sat leaning against a tree and watched as a dad blew bubbles for his toddling child, couples kissed in the grass and a family played tag running laughing across the field. As I observed from a distance I felt a little sad to be on my own, not having someone to share the moment with. But I suddenly realised that without sadness you can’t feel happiness, just like light can’t exist without the dark.
After a few hours of reading, dreaming and ambling barefoot in a field laced with daisies and buttercups I treated myself to cup of cappuccino and strolled around the rose-garden. With the smell of BBQ in the air and birds song welcoming the evening I started to walk home along the coast as the sun began to sink slowly in the sky. And as the sun lit up the sea I felt content to be on my own, a feeling like dusk, where light meets dark and creates its own unique light, contentment is a feeling that can be both sad and happy but simply enjoys the fleeting moment you are in.

The last photo I took before my camera died … shadows on bark