Church Picnic

I had a good time at the picnic.  I arrived at 11:00 and didn't leave until 4:00.  For some reason, the people who attended were all older than me, with the exception of two younger couples.  As always I was glad my friend Kelli was there because she sat next to me at lunch.  I don't know where all our young families were today.

It was really quite fun because they put up a tent behind the church, and I don't recall that they've ever done that before.  Usually we just eat in our fellowship hall, and it's a little cramped if a lot of people show.  I enjoyed being outdoors for a change.  This was also the first year that we've had our back acreage cleared out with grass growing, and it looks beautiful.  The only thing we have set up yet is a ball diamond, and some of the boys were already putting it to good use.  Aside from the tent, I was impressed by the grill they used to cook the burgers and hot dogs.  Someone has a relative who grills commercially, and he loaned us his very large grill for the afternoon.  It was awesome!

As all good Baptists know, the church functions are not really about the fellowship.  Nope, not at all.  It's about THE FOOD.  And I'm not one to argue with a standard that has been set, so I think it's only the truly spiritual thing to do in partaking of the abundance that God provided in all of those wonderful casserole dishes and dessert plates.  My personal favorite, spiritual experience was in partaking of the deviled eggs.  Twice.

After lunch one of the ladies asked if I would like to play a game with her.  Now, I really didn't plan to play games when I went to the picnic.  I'm more of the persuasion of eating and talking and doing that repeatedly throughout my time there.  No one else was taking interest in her game, so I decided I would be friendly and play with her.  Her daughter and granddaughter came over to play, too.  The game was called Spinner, a wild dominoes game.  I got such a kick out of the wild dominoes description, so I kept repeating it to anyone who came over to ask what we were playing.  Once they explained the game to me and we went through about 3 rounds, I finally got the hang of it.  I totally got into it, too, and I was glad I chose to join the game.  And would you believe I won the whole shebang?  When her son found out I won, he couldn't believe it.  He says she's usually ruthless when it comes to Spinner.

Later on, a couple adults and all the kids broke out the water balloons, and I knew I was sitting a little too close to the action.  I got hit in the back twice, but not enough to be soaked.  That figures, though.  I somehow manage to get wet, even when I choose not to participate. 

A lot of people left about an hour after lunch, but I stayed and talked with one of the ladies, who doesn't know as many people, for quite some time.  I was able to get to know her a little better, and I like it when I leave a place and feel like I know someone better than I did before I got there.

I missed my family and friends who I would normally spend more time with at a social gathering, but I had a really good time visiting with other people who I don't know so well.  Such a fun day!