Parks were once a convivial place where people could meet, chat, buy trinkets and enjoy food. A festive occasion with music, kids running around dancing and the family pets sniffing around for abandoned morsels. Concerts in the park revive community spirit to rival the medieval square is sponsored by the cultural districts and other sponsors with. Some are more organized than others with more festivities and some focus on just just the concert.
This means bringing blankets, pillows, lawn chairs, a picnic lunch, perhaps a flying disk or ball to keep the kids and dogs busy and a crank-up flashlight to add magic to the darkness. People arrive early to stake out their territory by placing a blanket on the ground or lawn chairs and relying on the honor system to ensure the claimed space is saved for the concert.
On the last Friday in August, the climax and last breath of the concerts in the park season, one couple arrived with beach chairs, a table and a cooler filled with wine, cheese, crackers and fruit. A man set up a stand and strung a double hammock with pillows. My honey and I brought our folding loveseat and an extra large quilt.
I made a vegan Panini sandwich with almond spread, fresh tomatoes and basil, sautéed squash, onions and eggplant. To drink I put my mint limonada (think fresh squeezed limeade or a mojito sans alcohol) in a thermos. With cloth napkins and glass tumblers we could have been dining at a fine restaurant if that restaurant surrounded each table with live entertainment.
So maybe it wasn’t stare-into-each-others’-eyes and absorb glowing love romance; it was better with vibrant energy, the approval of the community and a chance to huddle (I mean snuggle) together under the quilt when the temperature dropped as soon as the sun slid behind the rocky crags presiding over the park. He put his arm around me. Romance benefits from a community for nurturing.
THE END
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