PICNIC

From left to right: The child's picture of Troy's Work Table at the picnic; Troy's Work Table's picture of "the spread."

The child was promised a picnic in the front yard. Therefore, a picnic was had. It was a pleasant, relaxing end to our walk along the Riverfront Trail.

The child was especially intrigued because all of the various foods were present before her. The child could choose what to eat first and what last. The child looked at two plates of "snacks"—carrot sticks, pickles, green olives, black olives, pepperoni, cheddar cheese, mozarella cheese, grapes, Wheat Thins, Ritz crackers, and chunks of a 3 Musketeers candy bar. The child's first impulse was to eat the entire candy bar. This was curtailed to include pieces of candy bar between other foods. The child loved the antipasti buffet, as well as eating outside, under our walnut tree, on a blanket.

The squirrels were also intrigued with our choice of food and location. One of the more bold squirrels would come within a few feet of our picnic to sniff the air. It would also climb the walnut tree on the back side of the trunk and then peek around and down at us.

When we finished eating, the child brought some of her stuffed animals outside. We laid back on the blanket and stared up into the branches and leaves of the walnut tree and talked about the quotidian and small things of the day.