1 . Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there’s a food festival to match — no matter how specialized.

1. Meatopia

This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover’s paradise. In addition to a range of legally sourced meat products, from juicy burgers to tender steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery demonstrations, and attend informal meat-based workshops.

2. The National Honey Show

If you have a sweet tooth, then it could be that the National Honey Show, which started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind, is the place for you to be. This three-day event attracts many local entries who showcase their sweet golden honey, some of which is sold globally.

3. The Orange Sauce Festival

Have you heard about a festival that is devoted only to orange sauce? Held in Cumbria, this sweet, fragrant festival has been running for 3 years. What attracts people most is a competition to find the best homemade orange sauce. There are thousands of participants from over 30 different countries across the globe, bringing their local snacks to share here.

4. The Ginger and Spice Festival

If you’d prefer something with a little more kick to it, then you could attend The Ginger (姜) and Spice Festival held in Market Drayton. Unlike other food festivals, it celebrates its town’s historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of traditional spices from mild to hot.

2 . What could driving a race car and pointing a camera at the Milky Way have in common? More than you might imagine. Race car driver Bubba Wallace and photographer Batak Tefreshi made a journey together to remote Gooseberry Mesa, for an adventure aimed at taking pictures of the night sky.

Gooseberry Mesa, far from population centers, is protected from the nighttime light pollution, making it perfect for star photographers. Nature night environments such as this are rare.

Camping, hiking, and shooting stars in mountainous Mesa stress the similarity between photography and racing. Bubba notes, “Once you start the engine there’s no turning back—I know I’ll be in that seat for more than three hours.” Batak agrees, “I have the same feeling as soon as I touch the wheel of my camera—I’m ready to continue through the entire night.” For Bubba, developing patience allowed him to become a better driver and it is equally important to his photography.

Seizing the moment is crucial too. “Every minute things are changing—the Earth’s shadow, the moonlight, the rise of stars,” Batak explains. “If you lose the moment, it’s gone forever.” Bubba finds the physical and mental demands of racing as important when travelling in Utah’s rough landscapes under freezing temperatures.

Think incoming clouds, wind, or mist will ruin your chance at a perfect photo? According to Batak. “With wide-angle nightscapes every unexpected weather condition can be an opportunity. Our photos show oranges and blues around the moon you wouldn’t see under a clear sky.”

The team discovered shared interests that go beyond photography. “We are both crazy about bringing cultures together and using our work to break down boundaries(边界),” says Batak. “The night sky has a unifying power. The sky connects the whole world under one umbrella.”

3 . Walking in the city is very different from walking in the park. A small psychology study suggests urban environments can slow your step and possibly increase your mental load.     1    

It can ease your mind and quicken your pace. The findings show that natural settings may potentially reduce cognitive (认知的) tiredness and improve reaction time straight away.     2    

The first of the two experiments in the new study focused on people’s way of walking and cognitive load. During this trial, participants were fitted with sensors and a dozen motion control cameras were set up to watch them repeatedly walk down a l5-metre room at their natural speed. The wall opposite them showed an image of either a nature scene or a city scene.     3     On the whole, when walking in city settings, people reported that they felt more uncomfortable and they walked at a slower pace, indicating a higher cognitive load.

    4     In the trial, participants were asked to distinguish (区分) between basic visual shapes on the computer while also in the presence of a natural or urban image (the same ones from the first experiment).

Measuring reaction time in both natural and urban settings, the team found results to support their idea. In urban environments, participants were slower in distinguishing between simple shapes.

    5     Our brains take longer to process. However, more research is needed to prove that idea.

4 . The fall leaves are really starting to change now. It looks like the trees and mountains have become a canvas _________ by a loving artist. The bright, beautiful reds are _________ in the sunlight and the yellows are glittering (闪耀) like _________. Some trees have only a few leaves changed, some are half-way and others have already completely _________. Some of the leaves are falling to the ground to turning it into a colorful _________. I am enjoying this so much because I am _________ aware when winter arrives all of the trees will be _________ with the leaves down. It is always a little _________ to see but I know it is the circle of life. Those dead leaves will become the soil that nourishes (滋养) the trees and _________ new life next spring.

Today I noticed a lovely little girl from our __________ picking up the fallen leaves from the ground. The prettiest reds, yellows, and oranges were picked up and __________ in her arms. Soon she had quite a pile and __________ carried them over to her Mom and then with a smile gave them to her as if they were delicate flowers. Her Mom accepted them with a smile and together they __________ them out on their porch and stared at them like the priceless __________.

I watched this __________ from my living room window with a smile on my face as well. The world __________ a circle of love as well as a circle of life. And I am __________ that the former like the latter will never end. It will __________ all through this life and into the next. Take your place in the circle. Give love, receive love and live every day of your life to the __________ with love. And your __________ will shine bright like the most beautiful tree in autumn.