I honestly cannot think of a better way to ring in the summer other than enjoying a gourmet picnic dinner complete with wine on a perfectly breezy, non-oppressively hot night with a few thousand other Harry Connick, Jr fans. Last night Brain Surgeon and I attended the concert at one of my all time favorite venues, Wolf Trap™.
I am way past the point of being able to enjoy a concert on the lawn. However, we always have our picnic on the lawn and then go find our seats in the pavilion and have a good time. Of course no outing is complete without humorous observations of the gathering public, here are the highlights:
Red Wagon Lady: We were standing in the short line to retrieve our pre-paid picnic dinner and along comes this woman with a little red wagon. She was asked what she was going to do with the wagon and she reported that she was there to pick up 100 dinners. Why she felt that she was privileged enough to go to the head of the line to gather her dinners, is beyond me. However it was more than amusing to watch her try to juggle all those meals. It did not go well for her. She very well may still be trying to figure out the logistics this many hours later.
Family Unit Next to Us: We made our little camp on a hillside under a tree and proceeded to take in the surroundings. A young family set up next to us, a husband and wife, their 4 year old son and infant child. This may have been their first outing since the infant was born and they were rather unorganized. They had their food, wine and picnic materials but they left their corkscrew and knife needed to slice up their cheese in the car. Why do I know this? The Father was explaining that to his son while the Mother was tending to the infant. Wicked Sisters to the rescue; I quietly handed him our corkscrew and knife. Crisis averted.
Turquoise Cowgirl: In front of us we had a group of twenty-somethings. They were clearly Wolf Trap™ regulars. We could tell due to the organization of their food items. The Cowgirl brought one of those collapsible camping chairs; a good idea although we were on a rather steep decline. I can tell you that I was more than a bit disappointed that I was unable to watch the chair collapse as soon as she tried to sit on it.
Once we were done dining, we packed up our camp and headed for our seats. The deluge began right at that moment. Again, the seasoned attendees were prepared. All other were SOL. The concert itself was fantastic. A very mixed crowd of people, they all enjoyed themselves.
We decided that each summer solstice needs to be celebrated accordingly. Hope you all made a special time of it. Have a great weekend!