Childhood Picnics

We are finally having warm, summery weather! I’m so happy that I can sit outside in the evening and watch the changing light as the sun slips behind the trees, and listen to the birds settling in for the night. I find it relaxing after a full day of daily life, and it gives me a chance to let my mind wander. The other evening it wandered through some childhood memories of picnics.

The long summer break from school was one of my favorite times of year. I had the freedom to play outside, read, draw, chase butterflies, or do pretty much whatever I wanted. One of my favorite things to do, when I was maybe eight or nine, was have a picnic lunch. My mom would give me a cheese sandwich on a paper plate and iced tea or lemonade in a plastic cup with a lid. I’d take a blanket and head outside to either the little hill at the back of our yard, or a shady spot under the large Rose of Sharon in the side yard. There I’d sit on my blanket, eat lunch and just enjoy being outside. Other times my mom made a jug of lemonade and some sandwiches and took my brothers and I for a walk in the woods at the top of our street. We’d walk (or run) along the path through the forest exploring things as we went. When we got to a boulder we named “diamond rock”, we stopped and had our picnic lunch. We’d laugh and talk, and tell Mom about discoveries we made along the way and in our wanderigs off the path. Those woods are no longer there, as at some point they were turned into a housing development.

I’m glad I have those memories to reflect on when I have a chance to let my mind wander. There are many paths to go down in our minds, I hope you have some pleasant ones to visit when you have time for reflection. I hope, also, that you have time to regularly do so!