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Today in My History 2000:
Picnic
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Some Background Links: The story of Delicate Pooh The story of the Piņata Group Who IS this Gilbert person anyway? Sold! Swap Bot: |
3 July 2017 Just for the record here, I want to list the things that Tom and Laurel had on their plate this weekend: * Tom had to move the office he's worked in
for 20 years to his house because everyone is now going to work from home.
He had to be out by Friday. We won't even go into the drama involved
with accidentally locking his keys in the car I thought I was busy with five kids, but these two are doing super-human stuff and I really don't know (a) how they do it and (b) do it so well. The weather seemed grey and overcast when the day started, but by the time the picnic was in full swing, it was mid to high 70, sunny and perfect. Also, since this was NOT the 4th of July, the beach was much less crowded than usual. In the late morning Joe and Walt loaded up Joe's truck with food and sundries and took off for Goleta Beach to start helping Tom set up I had to pick up Tom's birthday cake around noon. I had a terrible time with the cake decorator who couldn't understand what I wanted (something that would be a salute not only to his birthday, but to the softball team and their victory). I had, I thought, given explicit instructions to the girl who took the order but it appears she got everything wrong and the decorator called me twice trying to figure out what I wanted. In the end, I told her to be creative and I was sure it would be fine. Amazingly it was
The picnic site slowly came together. This beach party has been going on now for about 17 years and Joe and Tom have it down to a science. They supply all the meat and everyone who comes brings sides dishes. Lots of side dishes. They are never quite sure how many will show up, but we counted 60 this year. Walt's cousin Jerry and his wife Melissa came from Long Beach. Her father has been in a memory care facility for a year, so we had a lot to talk about. The guys usually add some new food each year. One year (my favorite year) they cooked pork belly. This year it was lobster--and fortunately I am not a big lobster fan, so there was more for everyone else (unlike the pork belly year). But there are always massive roasts, spare ribs, chicken, shrimp, salmon, a couple of kinds of sausage, and whatever else they feel like making. No wonder so many folks show up.
While they are working their tails off the rest of us are lounging around, visiting....or reading...or napping
The food -- at least the meat, disappears pretty quickly. I was not quick enough to grab a spare rib but I had enough with the sides. Before the cake was cut there was a big cheer for Tom's birthday and for the meal he and Joe had just prepared and served.
and then, after a lively game of quiddich, it was all over.
(I never did understand the rules!) There was half a cake left over, which nobody needed at home, so I found a big group on the beach and asked if they wanted it. I noted, with amusement, that the two women who came to get the cake were accompanies by a man, just in case were were up to no good. But I was happy to see the cake go to someone who would appreciate it Lots of food came home and nobody needed anything else to eat that night. By this time I had been fighting with the laptop computer for two days and just decided to screw it, get these entries written and post them when I get home.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
We had two long tables and both were filled
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This is entry #6707
