Picnic Table

When hibernating during the long summer months- watching things roast, bake, and fry in one's backyard- it's easy to hunker down in one's air-conditioned kitchen and get lost in images of happy families gathered around outdoor dining areas, enjoying their summer evenings with cool breezes, corn-on-the-cob, and fireflies. How lovely for them.

For us, the window of opportunity for moments like that open ever-so-slightly somewhere between October and November, then again around April-May-ish. A slight window indeed to take advantage of not-too-windy, not-too-cold, not-too-hot outdoor dining opportunity. But oh, did I dream about it.

My dreaming must have evolved into thinking out loud, because when my birthday rolled around, I was presented with a hand-made, picture-perfect cedar picnic table. Sadly, at the time of reception, it was about, oh, 110 degrees outside, so all we could do was look longingly at it through the kitchen windows as we sat around our breakfast table. However, at the beginning of September, we were graced with a quick "cold" front that took our temps down about 20 degrees, allowing for a few days of outdoor breakfasts and lunches.

Oh, Texas weather, how we love-hate thee. But eating outside? Pure love.

Of course, a picnic table can be so many other things, besides just a picnic table. When I was a kid, our picnic table was one of my favorite things to play with/on/in, and I feel like ours might carry on that tradition. It's a good thing, too, since the window of opportunity for using it to eat on is so slim around these parts. However, when everything clicks, a sunny, breezy lunch on those strong cedar planks is everything we've been dreaming of (sans fireflies).