The University Parks are the one constant of my everyday life in Oxford. I am very lucky in that I live right next to one of the entrances, and my work happens to be very near the entrance on the other side of the parks (a whopping seven minutes away!); also, my office has a wall made out entirely of glass filled with a view of trees and lawns. And so every morning I cross the parks, spend my days looking at them, and until sunset started happening before 5pm, I also crossed them back on my way home.
They provide me with endless entertainment, particularly in the morning, around 8.40am, when I see a whole series of odd characters. There's the Polish couple walking in the opposite direction who, around once a week, walk down the path screaming at each other in Polish (the next day they're always holding hands). There are lots of joggers, even though there's definitely fewer now that it's getting cold; my favourites are the man who must be in his 70s running around in very short shorts, and the mum running in tiny lycra clothing pushing a pram complete with very covered up baby (with very rosy cheeks indeed). During the summer there was a multitude of other mums with their prams; I now only see them in the afternoons, from our window, participating in some odd exercising class, with babies and prams in tow. There are the dog walkers, usually very posh looking North Oxford housewives, in full rain gear and wellies (and with associated poop scoop). There's the nice security guard who appears regularly at the gate near home, waiting to catch naughty students cycling through (to my great joy, bikes cannot enter the parks, whether ridden or not) - we actually exchange hellos now. Occasionally there's a young man wearing long leather gloves and leather boots, with a falcon on a string. And of course, there's the students walking in both directions, going to the Science Area or to the Colleges and Departments in North Oxford; they usually include an English girl or two wearing flip flops in November, and the very young looking undergrad in the beige duffle coat.
It's great fun walking through the parks.