Dear Readers,
It’s summer and nothing is more pleasurable than going on a picnic. In my opinion, there are two important elements in the art of picnicking – food and location.
But before I delve into these elements, let’s review the word itself. For me, just uttering the word “picnic” evokes lightheartedness and fun. It rolls off the tongue in a joyous cascade of sound. I looked up the meaning of picnic in the dictionary – it is a meal eaten outdoors as on an excursion. It’s derived from the French “pique-nique”. Pique comes from “piquer” meaning “to pick”. The word was rarely used in the English language before the 1800’s. Even the French “pique-nique” conjures up thoughts of pleasurable recreation.
Let’s analyze the first element – food. Any type of foodstuffs can be served at a picnic. PB&J sandwiches, potato salad, cold cans of baked beans, bananas and pretzels are easy to pack. So are fried chicken, watermelon and brownies. At outdoor music concerts, there are the gourmet picnickers who feast on fancy cheeses, sturdy sausages, delicate crackers along with bowls of fresh raspberries. I plead guilty to “picnic envy” as I observe them carefully unfolding this banquet onto fancy plates and pouring their chilled wine into elegant wineglasses. I’m tempted to hide my pathetic paper cup of Hi-C fruit punch under my flimsy paper plate!
Let’s talk about what really makes or breaks the picnic – location. It can be held anywhere that has a shade tree and a large patch of grass. If there’s a picnic table nearby, that’s a bonus. Even a park bench strategically placed in an interesting and scenic area is ideal for a picnic.
My family loves picnics. When my children were young, we went on a lot of them. Sometimes we would meet their Dad for lunch at a beautiful county park on Evansburg Road near his office. The small park was full of big, leafy shade trees with a small stream running through the edge of it. My husband reluctantly returned to work after these relaxing picnics. Our home had a large covered deck off the kitchen. It was there that we ate dinner every summer night on a large wooden picnic table, rain or shine. It was sad when the evenings started to get too cool to eat out.
We also picnicked on vacations. One June we spent two weeks in Paris and one of the highlights of the trip was a picnic at the Jardin du Luxomburg, a beautiful large public park. My son urged us to plan one and we did – loading cheese, French bread, butter and wonderful strawberry preserve into a tote bag and riding the subway to the park. On another occasion, my daughter, sister and niece were visiting us in California, where we decided to drive to Joshua Tree National Park for a picnic. What a delightful place to enjoy lunch and then a hike. I still remember the styrofoam cooler the girls purchased at the local grocery store to keep our provisions cold.
As you can see, picnics are a big part of our family’s entertainment. Maybe this will be the summer Papa and I introduce our three year old granddaughter to the “art of picnicking”!
Keep smilin’!
