Picnics . . .

 

(source)

picnic (noun):
an occasion when you take a meal with you to eat outside in an informal way, or the food itself:


As a picnic afficionado I have enjoyed many outdoor meals in my life. A picnic can be something as simple as grabbing a few pieces of bread and heading off on your bicycle with some well loved friend or as complicated as one of Hyacinth Bucket's reparian riverside delights. 

 

(source)

We never went on many picnics as a family, when I was a child. Not unless you considered Sunday School picnics. Those were special occasions with pony rides, three legged races and ribbon prizes . . .  with free hotdogs, all the soda pop you could drink . . .  and all the ice cream you could eat. All free for the asking.

My mother did not enjoy eating outdoors. She had a bug thing.  She was terrified of bees and ants and she didn't like sitting in the sunshine. Being outdoors was not her cup of tea. Not. At. All.

As children however, we spent all of our time out of doors. If we weren't sick and it wasn't raining, we were out of doors.

 

(source)  

The dandelion does not stop growing 
because it is told it is a weed. 
The dandelion does not care 
what others see. 
It says, “One day,
 they’ll be making wishes upon me.” 
~ B. Atkinson

One day, when I was about 11 years old, a friend and myself decided we were going to go on a picnic. We each grabbed a peanut butter sandwich from our respective moms, filled mayonaise jars with cool-aid, and took off on our bicycles for the great outdoors. 

 

(source)

We pedaled our little legs off. We rode here, there and everywhere.  Even up the South Mountain to Tremont, which was hard, hard, hard. We found a particularly beautiful spot on a hillside overlooking an old country church about halfway up the mountain to enjoy our picnic.

We sat there on the grass, insects humming, a gentle breeze ruffling our hair and cooling our overheated bodies, our legs aching from what seemed like miles of dirt road covered.  I don't think there was ever any finer peanut butter sandwiches eaten on this earth, or more appreciated.

  

(source) 

"Give me the splendid, silent sun

with all his beams a dazzling."

~Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Up on that hillside we shared our hopes and dreams of what we thought our lives would become. We laughed at things we thought were funny at the time and we busied ourselves in the innocence that only exists in childhood minds and souls. Satisfied, we gorged ourselves afterwards on green apples purloined from an old orchard.

I remember laying in bed that night, sun burnt and tired, yet happy. My tummy was sore from the green apples and my legs were aching, but somehow, all felt right in my little world.

 

(source)  

"The pause is as important as the note."

~Truman Fisher

Life is a bit like a picnic. We head out on our bicycles and pedal our legs off, sometimes seemingly getting nowhere.  We travel here, we travel there.  Sometimes we eat green apples. The moments we set aside to sit on the hill and rest and reflect . . . .  the moments we gorge ourselves with our hopes and dreams and accomplishments . . .  the warm memories . . .  those are the peanutbutter sandwiches, the picnic treats, the rewards of a life well spent.

 

(source)  

 Tomorrow is mom's birthday.  She would have been 88.  I remember on her 80th Birthday we had a little party for her at the Big Scoop back home.  We were home for Eileen and Tim's wedding. (Their anniversary was yesterday.) I was trying to think yesterday however did we afford to be able to do that. I had been out of work for two years by that point.  In any case, there was a huge turnout for mom's day. My brother was there with his two youngest girls, all of my children were there and their families. Cousins, Uncles, my ex and his wife, etc. 

 

I miss my mom.

More than words can ever say.

Oh how very blessed I was to have someone 

in my life that I could love and miss so very much.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *We all have two lives.

The second one starts 

when we realise 

that we only have one.

~Tom Hiddleston•。★★ 。* 。 

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Quiche Stuffed Breakfast Bagels, for two.  Yummy yummy!

Have a wonderful Wednesday! Don't forget! 

 

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ ⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════     


And I do too!