Rediscovering Regent's Park: A Sunday Stroll After Loss

After a 10-week absence following the death of their dog Macy, the author returns to Regent's Park in London for a Sunday morning walk with friends. The park is alive with people enjoying the Queen Elizabeth II Garden, formal gardens, and The Broad Walk. A humorous moment occurs when the author's partner mistakes a goose for a duck, prompting a lesson in bird identification. The author reflects on how city parks reveal the changing seasons—horse chestnuts signal summer's end, redwings from the Baltic mark winter's arrival. During the coronavirus pandemic, the park was a daily ritual and sanctuary. The author observes snippets of conversations among other walkers, noting the park's role as a democratic space for confessionals, assignations, and debates. The walk ends with a promise to return and a plan to buy a book, Wild: A Child's Guide to the Animal Kingdom.