There’s a small park about 1/2 mile down the highway from my office, and on spring days when the pollen isn’t enough to push me over the edge, I like to get a 6″ Blimpie sub and eat half of it as I picnic in the park. There are covered picnic tables, and parking is just steps away. It’s a perfect way to take a break from the office and get a little Vitamin D. It’s also a quiet place to take my journal and write.
When Covid hit and we took to the camper for weekend getaways, we re-discovered the inner peace of picnics as we spent more time outdoors in nature. We didn’t even need a table. We took our camp chairs and sat by a lake or on a mountaintop and let the dogs play as we spent time doing nothing but relaxing. I decided at that time to find way to picnic in the middle of a workday to keep the perspective. Nature has a way of doing that. And that’s when I found the park near my office.
No one ever thinks about going here, tucked away as it is off the highway. Sometimes I come with a group of friends, but I also love having it all to myself. It’s the best way to spend a lunch hour any day, but especially on Fridays.
The Hidden Park
my own sliver of
GPS on the earth where
no other soul sits
Common Threads 
Kim, I am so jealous. I’ve been preparing a post of my own favorite park. Not sure when I will deliver that one, but I think nature is incredibly important to relish, and I can tell that you often do. Enjoy your lunch today!
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My own sliver of GPS – I love that line!
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Kim,
I envy your lovely park lunches. I don’t know if spring will ever arrive here. Snowed yesterday. I could never go to a park when I was teaching. Too many teens w/ cars. And they’d steal your parking spot if you left at lunch. Anyway, Covid did provide those solitary moments outside. I thought about them yesterday. And it’s okay to eat all 6” on a sandwich. Half is not very much.
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What a neat idea! Over the last five years or so, the school I retired from in ‘22 added more sturdy picnic tables outside. A bunch of people started eating outside more regularly, weather permitting. How lovely it would be to eat in a park, rather than outside an elementary school. Thank you for sharing.
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I want to write about the part of the day when I drive through the country. I can’t stop and have lunch, though. What a nice break!
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Oh, I love the idea of your own sliver of GPS, nestled away in the park with your sandwich and journal. Lovely image!
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This tiny sliver of earth sounds like a heavenly haven to me, Kim! When I first pulled up the post I felt right at home in “Zebulon Park.” Almost like I could be there in five and join you for lunch. Wouldn’t THAT be heavenly?? Love your point about nature’s way of helping us find perspective – that is the truth. And that you found a way to make it happen even during the workday. I must try to make this happen also.
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