"Everyday in every way I’m getting better and better" - Emile Coue
Monday, April 29, 2019
Picnic, Then & Now
That first year that our family arrived in Ontario, we were thrilled to picnic along with some friends during the summer and autumn months. We excitedly visited parks and lakes for a taste of fresh air, sun and maple trees. Four or five families would decide what to bring (lots of food and plastic ware) and then we will meet in the park with our young children. It was fun grilling meat on barbeque pit, feasting on fresh fruits and vegetables, and most specially catching up on each other's lives. The children played ball, and chased the birds and squirrels.
How times have changed over the years. We find packing and preparing food for the picnic now tiresome. Since our grown up children don't join us, it is just my hubby and I hiking and eating our Subway sandwiches in the nearby park. The lighter our load, the more enjoyable our walks. We still reconnect with our friends by going to someone else's house and dine in the outside patio with catered food. It is not the place that matters now, but the bond of friendship that we most treasure.
two geese fly eastward
as April clouds blanket sky-
tulips budding - joy -
Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - Haibun Monday - That Picnic- with Gina as our lovely host. Our theme for this week’s haibun is picnic! Share with us a memory (good or bad or funny from a picnic – your haibun must not be fictional but a real experience!
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I have never enjoyed those big picnics you describe... our picnics have always been more about having a meal as part of a walk... But it's fun to make your own sandwiches I think :-)
ReplyDeleteI love your haiku - I see you and your husband as the geese, still travelling together even though things have changed. And you're right, friendship is the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteI love this haiku too. Picnics are too fraught to be enjoyable in my limited experience.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, as I've gotten older the idea of a picnic is less appealing, but I really do have a lot of good memories attached to picnics. Like you say--it's the relationships that are truly important.
ReplyDeleteI had a big family too, and often we would meet at a park or lake or pond, and break bread. I got to meet and play with a ton of cousins, most of which I lost contact with in my 20's.
ReplyDeleteFriends are what matters most in a picnic.
ReplyDeleteGrace, what fabulous memories for you. Your haiku is stunning.
ReplyDeleteThe size and style of picnics does change over the years. It is almost always preferable in spring months, though anytime can be right if it's with the right person.
ReplyDeletesuch a sweet flowing haibun Grace, thank you for sharing the memories, times have changed but the bonds of friendship and community still strong.that says a lot about you as a wonderful human too. i like that as your load gets lighter, metaphorically and temporally, the time outdoors is enjoyed with a new found vigour. your haiku is a tender ode to nature's delicate season, spring, gentle and swift
ReplyDeleteThe people that matter indeed, not always where you are.
ReplyDeleteI understand this one completely. We had the same situation when going to the beach. We took everything along.... Now we just like to walk with a stick! Great story Grace!
ReplyDeleteLove the Haiku!
ReplyDeleteI love this. It resonates with how I feel about the earlier years and our picnics on the beach with family and friends. This is lovely. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFood brings people together, and picnics are one way of doing that. It's probably more worth it if the children go along. Perhaps one day your grandkids will tag along.
ReplyDeleteA big, noisy gathering of families with homemade dishes or a quiet catered meal with couples...both are a pleasure!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but natural how things change as we (and kids) get older.
ReplyDeleteI love the haiku
A moving account of the evolution of picnicing. Beautifully rendered, Grace!
ReplyDeleteAh, fun honesty of the transitions of life, and yet the deep values still held. Well said.
ReplyDeleteit's the sharing that matters most, isn't it? ~
ReplyDeleteI like the way you have contrasted then and now in the two paragraphs, Grace. Like Björn, I prefer the more intimate ‘picnics’ with my husband, although I am looking forward to picnics with my daughter and grandson. Your haiku is beautiful, with the geese and the April clouds, a (picnic) blanket in the sky – and my favourite flowers!
ReplyDelete