Picnic
03/08/13 05:20
When I was growing up, we ate a lot of meals outdoors. My great uncle had made a picnic box for our family. It fit into the trunk of a car back when cars had very big trunks. It had a drawer for silverware, places for pots and pans, and even room for a two-burner Coleman white gas stove. The Front of the box was hinged so that when it was unlatched, it became a bit of counter space for picnic items. My father ordered paper napkins and paper plates by the caseload, printed with the John Deere logo, of course.
We lived in great country for picnics. The mountains were a short drive away in a couple of different locations and our father had lots of customers spread out in the countryside. He could combine a sales call to a customer with a family outing. And we lived close enough to Yellowstone Park to drive the loop in a day, if we made a long day of it. Our family got a new “Carry All” in 1963, and we happened to be in Yellowstone in 1964 and got to see an eruption of Steamboat Geyser. The geyser erupted Wednesday afternoon after eight years of silence, but back in ’64 it blew it steam 29 times and we were there for one of them. We also thought that it would be hilarious to pour out mom’s coffee and refill her cup with hot water from the flows off of Mammoth Terrace. The prank didn’t work. The sulfur in the water makes it smell quite different from coffee.
Most of our outdoor meals, however, didn’t involve any trips at all. We spent our summers at our place down by the river, which involved camp living all summer long. We had old cabins with a walk to the bathroom facilities. There was a kitchen in the main cabin, but we had meal after meal cooked outdoors over an open fire. Our mom got really good at producing hamburgers and fried fish and other delicious meals from a cast iron skillet over the fire. We cut willow sticks to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows and there was a campfire every night. We learned to make smudge fires with green leaves and other things that would make smoke to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
Now, as an adult, we live in a home with a beautiful deck and we could take all of our meals outdoors, but we eat outdoors less than one might expect. If there are too many flies, we move inside. If it is too windy, we come back in. When the sun is too bright, we seek the shade of the kitchen. The big sliding patio door makes it easy to go from the kitchen to the deck, but it also makes it easy to come back indoors. I still cook outdoors a lot, especially in the summer. We have a very nice grill and I’ve learned enough about Dutch oven cooking to make biscuits, cornbread, and other items. I can even bake a reasonable pie in a Dutch oven. We like a wide variety of foods grilled or smoked.
When we have time, we love to go camping. Over the years we have upgraded from our tent to a pop-up camper, to a pickup camper and now to a camp trailer. Our current camper has most of the amenities of home. We have a stove with an oven, running water, and a complete galley of cooking items. When we are plugged into shore power we even have a microwave that we were sure we didn’t need, but we find we use quite a bit. We have a very nice dinette in the camper for eating, but we like to eat outdoors and have most of our meals outside unless it is raining. We even have an awning to provide shelter from the rain on occasion.
But we rarely go out for picnics. Packing up a meal and just going out for lunch or supper isn’t as rare as an eruption of Steamboat geyser, but we just don’t seem to think of it as often as we might. The closest we come some months is taking our lunch to work and eating outside on the church patio.
Last night, however, we just went on a picnic. It was delightful. I packed up a few things to eat in a grocery bag. We got in the car and went to the lake. We loaded up our canoe and paddled to a place that is difficult to access from the shore and had a lovely evening meal while we watched a pair of eagles fishing in the lake. Since we have a canoe that almost lives on the roof of the car during the summer, I’m always ready to head for the lake and it was no work at all to have a picnic. The spot we chose was a fairly rocky bit of shoreline, with lots of places to sit, but one brave ant did make its way across the rocks to check out our picnic spot. I decided to leave a few breadcrumbs just in case he wanted to take something back to his anthill.
Our meal was simple: some bread and cheese and meat, a few cookies and a bit of ice tea. It all fit into a single grocery bag. We have a rather fancy picnic basket, but we didn’t even bother to get that out.
There were a few thunderstorms in the hills last evening and we had to time our picnic to allow for paddling back to shore and stowing the canoe on the car before a shower hit, but it was easy to see the clouds coming and we had no trouble at all getting all of our gear stowed before there were any rain drops or flashes of lightning.
The question in my mind this morning is, “Why did I wait until August to plan the first picnic of the year?” We could do this nearly every day if we wanted to. I guess that part of the answer is that it is such a treat to do something that is different from the normal.
There is plenty in my life that is like Old Faithful. Maybe I need a few Steamboat eruptions from time to time as well.
No way I’m waiting eight years before the next picnic!
Most of our outdoor meals, however, didn’t involve any trips at all. We spent our summers at our place down by the river, which involved camp living all summer long. We had old cabins with a walk to the bathroom facilities. There was a kitchen in the main cabin, but we had meal after meal cooked outdoors over an open fire. Our mom got really good at producing hamburgers and fried fish and other delicious meals from a cast iron skillet over the fire. We cut willow sticks to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows and there was a campfire every night. We learned to make smudge fires with green leaves and other things that would make smoke to keep the mosquitoes at bay.
Now, as an adult, we live in a home with a beautiful deck and we could take all of our meals outdoors, but we eat outdoors less than one might expect. If there are too many flies, we move inside. If it is too windy, we come back in. When the sun is too bright, we seek the shade of the kitchen. The big sliding patio door makes it easy to go from the kitchen to the deck, but it also makes it easy to come back indoors. I still cook outdoors a lot, especially in the summer. We have a very nice grill and I’ve learned enough about Dutch oven cooking to make biscuits, cornbread, and other items. I can even bake a reasonable pie in a Dutch oven. We like a wide variety of foods grilled or smoked.
When we have time, we love to go camping. Over the years we have upgraded from our tent to a pop-up camper, to a pickup camper and now to a camp trailer. Our current camper has most of the amenities of home. We have a stove with an oven, running water, and a complete galley of cooking items. When we are plugged into shore power we even have a microwave that we were sure we didn’t need, but we find we use quite a bit. We have a very nice dinette in the camper for eating, but we like to eat outdoors and have most of our meals outside unless it is raining. We even have an awning to provide shelter from the rain on occasion.
But we rarely go out for picnics. Packing up a meal and just going out for lunch or supper isn’t as rare as an eruption of Steamboat geyser, but we just don’t seem to think of it as often as we might. The closest we come some months is taking our lunch to work and eating outside on the church patio.
Last night, however, we just went on a picnic. It was delightful. I packed up a few things to eat in a grocery bag. We got in the car and went to the lake. We loaded up our canoe and paddled to a place that is difficult to access from the shore and had a lovely evening meal while we watched a pair of eagles fishing in the lake. Since we have a canoe that almost lives on the roof of the car during the summer, I’m always ready to head for the lake and it was no work at all to have a picnic. The spot we chose was a fairly rocky bit of shoreline, with lots of places to sit, but one brave ant did make its way across the rocks to check out our picnic spot. I decided to leave a few breadcrumbs just in case he wanted to take something back to his anthill.
Our meal was simple: some bread and cheese and meat, a few cookies and a bit of ice tea. It all fit into a single grocery bag. We have a rather fancy picnic basket, but we didn’t even bother to get that out.
There were a few thunderstorms in the hills last evening and we had to time our picnic to allow for paddling back to shore and stowing the canoe on the car before a shower hit, but it was easy to see the clouds coming and we had no trouble at all getting all of our gear stowed before there were any rain drops or flashes of lightning.The question in my mind this morning is, “Why did I wait until August to plan the first picnic of the year?” We could do this nearly every day if we wanted to. I guess that part of the answer is that it is such a treat to do something that is different from the normal.
There is plenty in my life that is like Old Faithful. Maybe I need a few Steamboat eruptions from time to time as well.
No way I’m waiting eight years before the next picnic!