National Picnic Day

It’s National Picnic Day! People have been eating their meals outside in the beauty of nature for centuries. In fact, our modern-day idea of a picnic evolved from Medieval hunting feasts and Victorian garden parties. These were usually quite sophisticated affairs, which involved multiple courses and elaborate preparations.

During the early 19^th century a group of wealthy London citizens formed “The Picnic Society” to promote picnics as social gatherings. These picnics were potlucks, and each participant also had to provide a share of the entertainment. The society members drank from crystal goblets and listened to a live string quartet while eating their meal! Today, picnics are usually casual meals enjoyed on a comfortable picnic blanket.
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I love picnics and have some fond memories of them.  My earliest memory of a picnic is with Mom.  She made some finger sandwiches and we went into the backyard where she spead a blanket and we ate the sandwiches.  After we'd eaten, then we layed down on the blanket and looked into the sky and told what the clouds made us think of.  I think that was when we were living in Virginia.  My sisters would most likely have been with us, but for some reason I don't remember them on this occasion.

I remember our "family" picnics were usually held alongside the highway as we traveled.  It was more for necessity rather than fun as the restaurants were few and in between at times and with a family of six, meals could get very expensive.  Probably my most notable roadside breakfasts were when Mom had purchased a gazillion boxes of Captain Crunch cereal at the commissary for about .10 or .15 cents a box. So, we ate LOTS of Cap'n Crunch.  In the beginning it really was quite fun and exciting.  Cold cereal was not normally kept in our home (with four children it wouldn't last long).  We usually had hot cereal such as oatmeal, grits, farina, cream of wheat, etc.  By the time I'd eaten the Cap'n Crunch several times, it was no longer fun.  In fact, I've never bought a box of it at all in my entire life.


These are some other picnics I have pictures of...

Picnic at Andersonville National Historic Site which was a POW camp during the Civil War with Travis and Sarah.

Touring the grounds of Andersonville National Historic Site with Sarah and Travis.  I was pregnant with Corey at the time.  I think this was around October of 1978.

Les with Sarah and Travis.

Checking out one of the cannons at Andersonville National Historic Site with Uncle Les.



Another memorable picnic...After driving across country and back for two weeks, Corey and I had lots and lots of picnics.  This was the last one we had near the end of our trip.  We had left Arkansas that morning and around lunch time we kept looking for a roadside park or some place to stop and eat, but never found a place.  Finally in Mississippi we discovered a spot alongside the road that had been cleared away.  We just stopped there and that's where Corey took a picture of me sitting on our very large cooler eating my lunch.

International Picnic Day...June 18th...

...is an opportunity for people around the globe to plan picnics for their friends and family.  The great thing about picnics is that they necessitate little planning. As a matter of fact, "picnic" is a synonym for "easy."  While outside, take a minute to enjoy the crisp air of the outdoors and the natural environment around you. Sit back, relax, and appreciate the simplicity of good times with family and friends.

Joe and I go on lots of picnics since the move to Wyoming.  Everytime we go off on one of our "daycations" I always fix a picnic lunch.  It usually consists of enough sandwiches for two meals, a can of chips, frozen bottles of water to help keep things cool and also water to drink as it slowly thaws, some pudding cups and spoons, some fruit, Joe's meds and cloth rags for napkins. 

Today we went to Ayres Natural Bridge for our picnic.  We'd been there before on Saturday, June 6, 2009 and you can read about that at Douglas, WY and surrounding area.  That posting tells all about the Indian legend and other interesting things that we saw that day.  It has been almost two years to the day since we'd been back.

Joe walking over to see the water under the bridge.

Because of heavy snow melt, the water is quite high and fast this year.

Nephi Williams and Joe having conversation.

Heading out of the canyon away from the bridge.  Notice the old cabin in the middle of the picture.

The buffalo herd had moved closer to the road so they were easier to see coming back from the bridge.

There were prairie dog holes all along the road.  We pulled over to watch them and this little group congregated on the some hole and commenced to chatter at us.

Time for a Picnic

This is where Joe and I ate our picnic lunch...