Mid-day Fare

"Where would you like to eat?" my husband asked me. Hmm. A difficult decision with so many nice places to choose from. Let's see. Do I want the gazebo by the road, or the one near the entrance to the gardens.

While Howard went back to the car for our picnic, I tried a few on for size. The round table and benches under an arbor felt cozy, but since there were as yet no vines on the metal framework, it wasn't very private. The view was panoramic from the concrete picnic set in the middle of a circle of green lush grass under a big oak, but with no leaves, it felt out in the open. We settled on the lovely, new gazebo with the octagonal picnic table and the glider rockers.

And what was on the menu? Cold fried chicken from last night's supper, miniature containers of potato salad made from leftover mashed potatoes and two hard boiled country eggs, a bread-and-butter sandwich cut in half, three celery sticks I found in the fridge just begging to be stuffed with peanut butter, snack-sized diced peaches, and two individual pies, apple and cherry. Oh yes, just enough cold tea from the pitchers in the refrigerator to fill two plastic bottles.

What a pleasant picnic! We had already strolled the walking path, pausing to rest on benches and admire the greening and budding landscape. A tree that was covered in tightly wrapped green buds only a few days ago was now turning pink with blossoms. We had previously peeled off the green outer cover of one of the fat buds and discovered exquisitely wrapped, fragile, crimson petals. "I think it's a tulip tree," I said in delight. In a day or two, I'll know if I was right.

Another bush, I think a type of flowering quince, had pink buds only yesterday, but today it is blossoming out in reddish, pinky-orange flowers. I have had this shrub in pink, so I read the small sign beneath it with its botanical name to confirm its identification, but now I do not remember what it said. I only remember that it was pretty.

Flowers, a lovely landscape, a gourmet--albeit thrifty--lunch eaten al fresco on a beautiful first day of March. Now that is dining out!