World Mental Health Day 10/10/21

Our lovely Limehouse park is so special to residents and visitors… it’s a place to relax, refresh and recharge. Yesterday was World Mental Health Day and what better way to celebrate than a litter pick in the park! The weather was gloomy and drizzly, and my mood was low…I’m feeling quite helpless at times thinking about my very poorly mum who lives far away… But I remembered the words of a wise psychologist - “Do do do!”- so picked up the litter pickers and off we went.

The park was fresh and still very green, but leaves are starting to fall, and the white backed maple leaves were fooling me into thinking they were bits of paper. A cheeky squirrel stopped midway up a tree to stare at me, unafraid. And picking up some soggy cardboard we found fat juicy red worms. After just a short time Dolly came to chat- she used to live locally and was visiting the park. I noticed my mental clouds lifting. We amused ourselves naming different parts of the park so we could section it into picking areas- the canalside glade, the cherry avenue, the woodland path…

Finally we dropped off our litter bag by the Council bin and Richard burst out laughing- he’d spotted an empty package for a vibrator. Limehouse is full of surprises! Chuckling, we headed for the Grapes pub and shared a delicious Sunday roast. My mum sent me a card recently and she had written “It’s so important to have fun…” Thank you Ropemakers Fields for helping me to see the fun again.