Some trips are not only about sightseeing. The place we go to, the trees we see, a bench we sit on, a tea we drink or a short chat while walking can touch something completely different inside us. When my father and I came to Kocaeli Ormanya today, I felt this once again.
Ormanya is one of those places where you can breathe among nature, slow down as you walk and get away from the speed of city life for a short while. But for me today Ormanya was not just a lovely place to visit. It was also a special place where past and present stood side by side and memories quietly reminded me of themselves.
When my father and I arrived, we left the car at the Kocaelispor car park. Then we slowly began to walk into Ormanya. We were in no hurry. In places like this there is not much point in hurrying anyway. Walking among the trees, you inevitably slow down a little. You look around more carefully. You notice the birdsong, the smell of the earth and the calm steps of other people more.
Time Spent at Ormanya with My Father
Today my father and I talked a lot. Sometimes while walking, sometimes while stopping to look around, and sometimes while visiting the animals. In fact, one cannot always talk at length with one’s father. In daily life most conversations are short, practical and need-driven. But in a place like this, among nature, when time flows a little slower, the conversation deepens by itself.
This Kocaeli Ormanya trip was not just a nature walk for us. We had been here before. We even talked about the times we came here with my mother before she passed away. So there was a little of the past in every step we took.
There are places where, when you return, you do not live only the present. The moments you once lived there walk with you. Walking with my father in Ormanya today was a bit like that. We talked about the days we came with my mother. We saw the pergola where we had sat with her. To someone looking from outside, that pergola was perhaps just a wooden seating area. But for us it stood for a memory.
Sometimes a person misses not a place but the person who was with them in that place. A pergola, a walking path, a table or a glass of tea; each of them can suddenly open a door to the past.
The Forest Library and the Bird House
One of the places we visited in Ormanya was the Forest Library. The idea of books in nature has always seemed beautiful to me. Because books, like nature, slow a person down. They take us away from the noise. They turn us inward.
That is why the idea of a forest library does not look to me like merely an architectural or decorative detail. It feels more like a space where a person touches nature and thought at the same time. Meeting books among trees gives a feeling different from the idea of a library we are used to in the city.
Then we visited the Bird House section. Watching birds gives a calm of its own. Their movements, their sounds, the way they live in their own world remind us how large and varied nature is. We often think our own agenda is very big. Yet after spending a little time in nature, we notice more clearly that life is not made up only of what we think about.
Visiting the Animals One by One
My father and I visited the animals in Ormanya one by one. We had seen them on earlier visits too, but some things do not lose their value when repeated. On the contrary, they take on new meaning depending on whom you do them with.
While watching the animals we kept talking. Sometimes we laughed at their movements, sometimes we stopped and looked in silence. At such moments no big sentences are needed. Walking side by side, looking in the same direction, noticing the same thing is enough.
I think that is the best side of places like Ormanya. They do not force you into a big event, a busy programme or the rush of a quick tour. You are simply there. You walk, you look, you talk, you fall silent. Sometimes that is exactly what does you the most good.
Memories of My Mother
The most special part of today was without doubt what we talked about concerning my mother.
We talked about the times we came to Ormanya with her before she passed away. Remembering those days pained me on one side and did me good on the other. Because when we lose someone we love, the places we went to with them do not stay entirely the same. Something is missing, but something also remains.
Seeing the pergola where we sat with her today brought those memories back to life. I stood there for a while and thought about the past. Perhaps the weather was lovely that day too. Perhaps we had something to drink again. Perhaps my mother said something while looking around. Sometimes we do not remember every detail, but the feeling of that moment stays.
And sometimes feelings are stronger than details.
Today Ormanya was for me not just a beautiful place among greenery. It was a place where my mother’s memory quietly kept me company. Talking about her with my father, remembering the past together, let me also see the good things that still remain within the loss.
Because even when some people leave our lives physically, the places and memories we shared with them stay with us.
A Short Break at the Antikkapı Facilities
During part of our trip we had something to drink at the Antikkapı facilities of Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. Short breaks on trips like this have a beauty of their own. Sitting down after a walk, having a drink, looking around and picking up the conversation where we left off…
Sometimes the most memorable part of a trip is not the grand views but small breaks like these. A simple chat at the table, the warmth rising from a glass, the people around going about their own business…
Sitting there with my father, the calm of the day continued. There was neither a crowded rush nor a place we had to be. There was only time spent together. I think the older we get, the better we understand its value. Time with family, especially time with parents, should not be postponed.
A Day Intertwined with Nature and Memories in Kocaeli
Kocaeli Ormanya is a nice place for visiting with family, spending time in nature and taking a little breath. For families with children, seeing the animals can be fun. For those who want a nature walk, it offers a calm environment. With the Forest Library, the Bird House and the walking areas, it is not only a place to visit but also a space that allows you to stop and think for a while.
But for me the meaning of today was a little more than that.
Today I walked with my father. We visited the animals. We saw the Forest Library. We visited the Bird House. We had a drink at the Antikkapı facilities. We talked about the times we came with my mother. We saw the pergola where we had sat with her. And perhaps most importantly, we lived the past and the present side by side within the same day.
Life sometimes becomes clearer in moments like this. Not in big plans, crowded goals or the constant rush to keep up; but when walking slowly with your father, when seeing a pergola where you once sat with your mother, when talking about old days over a glass of something warm…
What remains with me from Ormanya today is not only a trip memory. What remains is a little peace, a little sadness, a little longing and plenty of gratitude.
Perhaps the beauty of some days hides exactly here: nothing very big happens, but small moments that touch us accumulate.
The day my father and I spent at Kocaeli Ormanya today was such a day for me. A simple but precious day, among nature, in the company of memories.