Picnics

Not that long ago, and as a part of Blog101, I read a post by LaNae about a picnic she took on the longest day of the year with her husband. If you have not by now definitely read her post as it not only made me want more in my life but also inspired me to do more.

It began with what she wrote about. Going out on a date is not something that’s foreign nor is it something I have not done before. Picnics though? They just always seemed to much to me.You have to plan both schedules, where you want to go, get the food ready, off for mosquitoes, and everything else that pops up. All of that just deemed it negative in my mind.

Yet it was something different about this post as I read it. Maybe it was the fact that LaNae is married and married picnics are different. Maybe it was that they both went to the beach to enjoy the day amidst the work week.

The initial feeling that hit me about it was the preparation that was not put into. Think about it. It is not like they planned the full thing out, nor did they schedule it weeks in advance, it just happened. It is something about things just happening in life, the spontaneity of it, that just gets me every time. I enjoy that. Just going and doing. Too many times I try and make sure everything is planned out, when in reality, everything should not be.

On from there the photographs that put you on the beach with them. I could visualize the other families, I could see the tide being out and later on coming back in. Even the man on the row boat with his bucket (LaNae that does sound like a good idea…when stomachs are full (-: ).

Reading through the post made me think to myself. Why haven’t I done this more in life? Just stopped momentarily and taken it all in? There have been times where I definitely have –when I went to San Antonio, NYC, LA, times with family/friends/loved ones– but I can constantly remember when I did not more than when I did. Maybe that’s just a mental stump I have. To dwell on what could have been rather than what was.

If it is, it is not something I plan on carrying throughout life. I have taken more trips recently so that I will be able to remove this stump. But sometimes it just keeps coming back. All in all, I appreciate the post LaNae made. While it may have been as simple as a description of a date with her husband, it was also a reminder to me to be thankful and to enjoy what is happening around you. Maybe sometimes going on picnics are not so bad after all.