Monday, November 22, 2021

The Autumn Leaves

You know, I shouldn't have waffled on this one so much. I kept second guessing myself. Unsure if we were going to have much of a turn-out for our monthly picnic, I changed the date, took several surveys, made some calls, checked and re-checked the weather, and just generally spent too much time and energy being anxious, which is absolutely a direct violation of Picnic Protocol. Never again! I hope. I really must adhere to my own policy about Picnic Day, which is: Do Not Worry About It. I set the date, name the location, send out the invitation, and then relax. And that's all it ever takes, because our friends show up when they can, if they can. And there are things to eat, to share. We have the very best success with weather, and open space. It is a waste to worry, to overthink any of it. We arrived on time, with sandwiches, and lemonade, and sunblock, and the day simply unfolded, blossomed, really. It was perfect.
We had a couple of hours to ourselves. We put that to good use with some bit of setting up, a walk, and more Dungeons and Dragons planning. Geoff got the phone app, and made more updates for his character, Phil the stumbling, not fallen Aasimar... it's coming along. I recalled a Pinterest or Instagram craft, for which I gathered fallen leaves... here it is! Thank you, Robin, Patchwork Momma. I hope I have some bee's wax. I hope my leaves haven't already dried to a crisp! And speaking of leaves! It was like the song, and I could hear Nat King Cole singing tenderly, "The falling leaves drift by the window, The Autumn leaves of red and gold." We enjoyed shade and sunlight, a stunning blue sky, and plenty of Autumn leaves. Families arrived in matching outfits, with photographers in tow, for holiday portraits. Regular breezes rustled the branches, and we had leaf showers. Yes, pretty romantic, pastoral, a wonderland.
Some of us took the hike up to see the first installment of Leo's Eagle Scout project, an entry sign, and markers (coming soon) for native plants. The frame for the sign went up on Halloween, and that was a big effort, including digging large, deep post holes, and mixing the cement. Leo has been desiging, researching, and delegating to get everything completed. Delegating means he found support and contributions, which is how he got such beautiful wildlife paintings on the front and back of the sign. Those were a contribution from his sister, Bella. Leo also reached out to us, Benevolent Order of Makers for help making the smaller native plant markers, and Geoff has been mentoring him on operating our laser engraver, Phoebe. We love these enhancements, and it's especially cool that we can enjoy them in "our" picnic park.
I love these paintings! Bella, they are so good, and charming! I need to return, when the sun isn't casting shadows on the backside of the sign, so I can get more pictures. We were all impressed and enthused for every aspect of Leo's project, and the execution of it.
Beneath the falling leaves, surrounded by them, really, we talked, and caught up, rested, relaxed, read. We tossed our whistling Nerf football, and wooed Akira puppy! I love love love picnic day. It was a gift, again.

4 comments:

mogsinc said...

What a beautiful day. It’s great you are making great memories with your family and friends. Thanks for sharing

Nicole MacPherson said...

Look at those beautiful skies! Sounds like a gorgeous day full of wonderful memories.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Thank you for these kind comments! The gorgeous weather is such a bonus for picnic day, and I have been testing my dedication, by imagining what we will do when we get rain or mud, or a big chill on our day... I like to believe that we will stick with our commitment and act as Norwegians, who are credited with declaring "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes." However, I strongly suspect that for bad weather, we are not very well-equipped with "good clothes!" lol. We are making great memories, and I hope we can keep this up, indefinitely!

Janece said...

Our picnics are gifts... every single time! Happy, contented sigh just thinking about them!!