I would have preferred ants...
This week, I went on a picnic.
There's a decent amount of public green-space parks just a couple of minutes (by car) from my apartment, and it's probably not a great idea to spend too much time indoors on the one day this week it's not hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.
So, I went from "puttering around on the internet in my pajamas" to "dressed, sunscreened, lunch packed up and out the door" in about 30 minutes.
I have a place I like to go. It's not a very big space as parks go, maybe the size of a larger backyard, but it's green, there are enough trees to provide shade, it's close to the water, and there's a dog-run just across from it. Plenty to watch, but enough space that I can relax and stretch out without worrying about invading other people's space.
Unfortunately, I discovered my normal picnic spot is under construction. :-( I hope it's just a re-conditioning of the soil under the dog-run and not an overpriced housing development.
So, I found another one. It was a lot smaller, but it's out of the way, and there wasn't anyone around to bother or be bothered by when I spread my blanket.
About 5-10 minutes after I got there, set myself up and started eating a couple shows up. Okay, fine, there's a walking/biking trail that runs close to the spot - three folks walking a dog had already come through - but I can deal with people since they'll all just be passing through, right?
Wrong.
The couple sat on one of the benches on the footpath about 100 feet from me (the nearest one!!) and started talking (though they were just far enough away that I couldn't make out a word they were saying).
All I know is they kept giving me dirty looks because I was sitting on the grass under the trees... EATING! (How dare I have a picnic in a nice place like that???) They had a single green plastic canteen between them and nothing else, so it's not like I stole "their" picnic spot...
I nodded in acknowledgement of their presence, and then pretty much ignored them in an attempt to relax. There were a lot of birds. There were boats in the water. I had a sandwich and a box full of fresh, in-season blueberries.
I figured, since I was there first, they'd move on once they realized it was clear I was going to keep sitting there for a while...
Wrong again.
Aside from eating, one of the things I like to do on these picnics of mine is blow soap bubbles. It keeps my inner four-year-old happy, and there's something I find soothing about it. I do it with one of those drippy plastic "bubble wands" that you dunk right into the bottle and not with one of those fancy bubble-guns, because I consider electronic assistance to be cheating.
I made sure the couple was upwind of me (which they were) and let loose a torrent of bubbles.
This was met by another dirty look from the couple, though nothing more than a semi-curious glance from the passing bicyclists and walkers.
I kept it up for a few minutes, making sure I wasn't blowing bubbles at them (or anyone else who was passing through) but the "how DARE you!!!" look was still on their faces the few times I happened to look their way.
I got tired of that and decided to lie back and stare up through the tree-branches. It was then I discovered there were about a zillion spiders weaving their webs in the tree directly overhead. It was fascinating.
I heard the couple get up. This was good, because if they left (taking their disparaging looks with them) I could really relax.
Nope. They just moved to the bench next to the one they'd been sitting on, still talking and drinking out of the bottle, which they passed back and forth. They didn't give dirty looks to the people passing on the footpath (of which there were many) only me.
But because of them, I just couldn't relax. Since my food had been eaten, and it was clear the couple was determined to wait me out for some reason, I eventually packed up and headed out.
Oh well. Maybe next time.
Though my departure worked out well for one gentleman in an SUV. Parking is somewhat scarce in the area, and I was pulling out of a prime location, which he thanked me for. :-)
All's well that ends well I suppose.
tl;dr: I had a decent time, despite the best efforts of people who acted as if picnicking in a park was "weird".
This entry was originally posted at http://something-for-thursday.dreamwidth.org/4963.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
There's a decent amount of public green-space parks just a couple of minutes (by car) from my apartment, and it's probably not a great idea to spend too much time indoors on the one day this week it's not hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk.
So, I went from "puttering around on the internet in my pajamas" to "dressed, sunscreened, lunch packed up and out the door" in about 30 minutes.
I have a place I like to go. It's not a very big space as parks go, maybe the size of a larger backyard, but it's green, there are enough trees to provide shade, it's close to the water, and there's a dog-run just across from it. Plenty to watch, but enough space that I can relax and stretch out without worrying about invading other people's space.
Unfortunately, I discovered my normal picnic spot is under construction. :-( I hope it's just a re-conditioning of the soil under the dog-run and not an overpriced housing development.
So, I found another one. It was a lot smaller, but it's out of the way, and there wasn't anyone around to bother or be bothered by when I spread my blanket.
About 5-10 minutes after I got there, set myself up and started eating a couple shows up. Okay, fine, there's a walking/biking trail that runs close to the spot - three folks walking a dog had already come through - but I can deal with people since they'll all just be passing through, right?
Wrong.
The couple sat on one of the benches on the footpath about 100 feet from me (the nearest one!!) and started talking (though they were just far enough away that I couldn't make out a word they were saying).
All I know is they kept giving me dirty looks because I was sitting on the grass under the trees... EATING! (How dare I have a picnic in a nice place like that???) They had a single green plastic canteen between them and nothing else, so it's not like I stole "their" picnic spot...
I nodded in acknowledgement of their presence, and then pretty much ignored them in an attempt to relax. There were a lot of birds. There were boats in the water. I had a sandwich and a box full of fresh, in-season blueberries.
I figured, since I was there first, they'd move on once they realized it was clear I was going to keep sitting there for a while...
Wrong again.
Aside from eating, one of the things I like to do on these picnics of mine is blow soap bubbles. It keeps my inner four-year-old happy, and there's something I find soothing about it. I do it with one of those drippy plastic "bubble wands" that you dunk right into the bottle and not with one of those fancy bubble-guns, because I consider electronic assistance to be cheating.
I made sure the couple was upwind of me (which they were) and let loose a torrent of bubbles.
This was met by another dirty look from the couple, though nothing more than a semi-curious glance from the passing bicyclists and walkers.
I kept it up for a few minutes, making sure I wasn't blowing bubbles at them (or anyone else who was passing through) but the "how DARE you!!!" look was still on their faces the few times I happened to look their way.
I got tired of that and decided to lie back and stare up through the tree-branches. It was then I discovered there were about a zillion spiders weaving their webs in the tree directly overhead. It was fascinating.
I heard the couple get up. This was good, because if they left (taking their disparaging looks with them) I could really relax.
Nope. They just moved to the bench next to the one they'd been sitting on, still talking and drinking out of the bottle, which they passed back and forth. They didn't give dirty looks to the people passing on the footpath (of which there were many) only me.
But because of them, I just couldn't relax. Since my food had been eaten, and it was clear the couple was determined to wait me out for some reason, I eventually packed up and headed out.
Oh well. Maybe next time.
Though my departure worked out well for one gentleman in an SUV. Parking is somewhat scarce in the area, and I was pulling out of a prime location, which he thanked me for. :-)
All's well that ends well I suppose.
tl;dr: I had a decent time, despite the best efforts of people who acted as if picnicking in a park was "weird".
This entry was originally posted at http://something-for-thursday.dreamwidth.org/4963.html. Please comment there using OpenID.