flying twigs

A walk in the park is easy and pleasant. Or at least that is what the image conveys.

Therefore the phrase is used to describe a task that looks like it’s not going to be easy. For example, defusing a bomb looks from the outside like it is going to be very difficult and risky.

An expert defuses the bomb. Afterwards the onlookers ask how it went, and the expert says ‘It was a walk in the park’, meaning it was easy and straightforward with no surprises.

Or a less extreme example, taking an exam. And the person is asked how it went and they say it was easy – it was a walk in the park.

The essential thing to remember about the phrase is this. That is it is always used in connection with a task that appears at least somewhat difficult to accomplish.

A Walk In The Park For Real

Talking about the actual action of going to the park, I have a feeling that I have stepped out of the world.

It may be the extra space that I am not used to in the city. Similarly, it may be the change in the way sound moves around in the open space. Perhaps it is the way I see people behave in a park, almost like they are on holiday.

And I like the way that in a park I can see nature unfolding in front of me. Specifically, I sit, simply sit. And on a park bench I feel that I have made a space in the world. That is, when I sit, and I feel like I have a place to be, a vantage point. I have a place from which to look on the world. The nub of it is that I am not rushing on. In sitting surrounded by nature I have given myself time.

My eyes take in the outlines of the trees, the clouds moving across the sky, the branches swaying in the breeze. My ears take in the breeze rustling the leaves. Perhaps I hear the chit, chit of a small bird, the sound of the town in the distance.

Who knows who will sit down next to me? Will it be someone ready to talk? It might be me who starts the conversation. Then the sun might be out, and the park bench might be in the dappled shade of a tree. I appreciate the shade. I start to reflect on things, people, relationships, time. To sit is to make time.

How To Donate A Park Bench

Some local councils will install a park bench in one of their parks upon payment of a fee. In return they will undertake to maintain the bench for a period, say ten years. In other words when I see a plaque on a park bench, that someone surely loved the person being commemorated.

For the park bench greeting card featured here it’s a reminder that it’s another year. That is to say it is another birthday, and it’s just a walk in the park.