Nicholas Quirke was weary from the weekends activities and determined to have a gentle day and treat himself well on 11 May 2020. He had taken so many photographs and so much footage over the weekend it had left him with an enormous amount of work to do to get it ion some order. The activity took him most of the day but anxious not to miss the clement weather and the sunshine he took an afternoon preamble to Guang’anmen Park which he had not visited before and was a short 5 minute walk from him. He was glad that he finally made the effort to go as it turned out to be full of creative activity. Not only did the park boast some lovely vintage pavilions and an outdoor theatre But there were a multitude of local musicians practising their craft. He ended up sitting for nearly an hour listening to the performances. Sadly he didn’t have the language skills to talk to them and discover if they were amateur or professional and to be honest, the strains of Peking opera are so dissonant and hard to listen to at times, it was hard to tell how skilled they were, but nevertheless it was an idyllic setting and simply watching people enjoy the Indigenous pastime was a thrill and kept him entranced. He made sure he captured the sounds of the afternoon for Grace and for any who wanted to hear the sounds of creative endeavour. The park was not as large as some that he had visited but its charm lay in its leafy pathways and sense of slight neglected in both the upkeep of the park and its buildings. This really felt like a place for locals to workout and rehearse and even though he was The only westerner in the vicinity he felt strangely at home and the residents welcoming. The major improvement in his life of course was that the health kit was working again and he did not have to go through a tedious routine of showing the paperwork and trying to explain that his health kit had a bug. He also found pleasure in spotting some wildlife on his walk, some a black swan and its ugly ducklings with feathers all stubby and brown, a turtle and some birds. On his return to the apartment he did some food preparation for the next day while Peng furiously exercised and then once refreshed they watched a chilling movie, ‘The Lodge’ which was not the happiest of films to view just before bedtime..
