Indoor Picnic

"Today is not a good day for a picnic," Anna told me, this rainy afternoon while Colin was napping. "We should have an indoor picnic." Great idea, I told her. She wanted to make a full spread of food, even though we'd already eaten lunch. I convinced her coffee and cookies would suffice.

We lounged on our "picnic blanket" and talked about what kind of foods we liked. Anna mentioned corn on the cob and pepperoni. Then she wanted to talk about what kind of things we like to see outside. "The chickens," she said. "Our plants growing tomatoes and edamame," I said. "I like that, too," she said, "and I like the leaves on the trees." "I like to watch the dogs sleep in the sun. And I like to watch you and Colin playing nicely together in the sandbox." She wrinkled her nose at that. "I like to plant things in my garden for you to eat!" she said.

She looked so beautiful and thoughtful and happy, with her smooth olive toned skin and her exuberant curls. I wanted to get a picture of her expression as she talked about things she liked. But after a few photos, she started to make really silly faces, pulling her mouth in all kinds of directions and bugging her eyes out. I didn't like it, but I remember doing the exact same thing as a kid.



Then she turned the camera around and took this nice picture of me: