This past weekend we were supposed to go to the Oyster Festival in our state and camp with some friends who were also scheduled to play music for the festival. We offered to bring some food for the long weekend and because our lives are so busy right now, my wife decided it would be much easier to just order some curry chicken cashew salad and California potato salad from Puget Consumer’s Co-Op (PCC) Market. She ordered 4 quarts of each, as well as two containers of Tai Steak Salad. We would have plenty of food for the weekend for our growing group of friends. We’d invited my two nephews and my nephew’s wife and they were excited to meet up with us and our friends. Since my wife makes the best Mojito’s she’d gone to the Mexican market the weekend before and bought 30 limes. The alcohol would be flowing freely and it was destined to be an epic weekend aside from the fact that we would be camping for 4 days. Have I mentioned that my idea of camping is staying at the Holiday Inn?

Because this event is so much fun, I agreed to the less than ideal conditions that camping presents for me. I have a compulsive need to shower every day and God forbid I am not able to blow dry my hair. If they can invent a way for a 450 ton hunk of metal to fly in the air, why can’t someone invent a solar or battery powered hair dryer. I did an internet search a few years back because I was convinced this necessary item existed. It did not.

My wife offered to set up a solar shower for me. However I knew from past years that no amount of sun would turn that freezing ass cold shower into an enjoyable experience. She promised to add boiling water to it. I had to compromise and agree to take my baseball cap in lieu of properly drying and styling my hair. Alas, it’s the little things that make a marriage work. My wife loves camping. I do not. Enough said.

Unfortunately a tragedy at work sidetracked our plans and I needed to stay in Moses Lake for the weekend to make my rounds and make sure the staff were doing okay. Secretly, I cheered not having to camp this weekend, but at the same time lamented over having to miss the festival and hang with our friends. Have I also mentioned I love oysters and seafood. I would not get my oyster fix and we had an outrageous amount of chicken and potato salad to eat. I envisioned eating this until Thanksgiving. I don’t think this kind of food freezes well. Or does it?

On Saturday morning my sweet wife went to get me coffee and when she came back she asked if I had a lot of writing or re-writes to do this weekend. I told her no that I’d already finished my re-writes. My wife has been very supportive and patient with me, especially since we only see each other on the weekends and oftentimes I get distracted with a story idea or have work to do on re-writes. She was thrilled to learn that we could have a nice date and asked if I wanted to do a picnic lunch. I readily agreed. We had some chicken and potato salad to dig into. She dropped me off at work to do my rounds and then went to the farmer’s market to pick up a few items, including this wonderful pie from Rhonda’s pies. We always have to have something we call a sweety treat from the farmer’s market Sometimes it’s caramel popcorn made from locally grown corn and when that’s not available, we get a pie.

She picked me up about 45 minutes later and I asked, “Where are we going today?”

“I thought we’d go to the Martin Scott Winery,” she responded.

I laughed. Of course my wife would find a way to combine a romantic picnic lunch with wine tasting. Besides camping, I think wine tasting is her favorite thing to do. I wondered what the winery owners would think of two mature lesbians setting out our lunch fare at their beautiful winery. As it turns out it wasn’t an issue at all.

My wife carried the cooler outside and set it on one of the wrought iron tables. We’d staked our claim at a spot in the sunshine that had a spectacular view of the Columbia River, surrounding orchards, and wineries. We planned on tasting some wines and choosing a bottle to pair well with our food. In reality, I haven’t the foggiest idea what pairs well with what, but I liked the idea that my wife has a sophisticated enough palate to choose wisely. Since I am a lightweight, I made sure that the person pouring only gave me a small amount. I was already going to stumble away from lunch after sharing a bottle with my wife.

My wife never met a stranger (she claims she is not an extrovert, but I have tons of evidence to the contrary). As we began to taste the different white wines, she offered some of our picnic lunch to the woman who was pouring the wine. So after we chose a bottle (a 2013 Peddler White), my wife dished up a serving for the pourer and we moved our chairs out to an area with full sun.

The view was spectacular, the sun was shining, and we had chairs with backs to sit on and enjoy our meal. Frankly, I never want to picnic any other way again. Lugging the bottle of wine, food, utensils, blanket and everything else to a remote location is overrated. I didn’t have to suffer through brushing away ants or flies and I could lean back in my chair instead of trying to find a comfortable position on a blanket. At my mature age of 56, I appreciated the support to my back which is often temperamental.

I highly recommend not giving up romantic picnic lunches no matter how long you’ve been married to the same woman. However, you might consider broadening your horizons and choosing an unconventional location.

If you want a somewhat unconventional romance, check out one of my books. I am excited about two upcoming novels, Out of This World and Locked Inside that come out in November and December.

A link to the first chapter of Asset Management: First Chapter of Asset Management,.  My first novel, Love Forever, Live Forever, is available in both e-book and print format. Links below will get you to all the places you can purchase the book.   Keep scrolling down for the links to Asset Management. Thanks for supporting a new writer!!

Amazon              Affinity E-Book Press         Smashwords        Barnes and Noble     Bella Books

Here are the links to Asset Management:

Amazon         Affinity E-Book Press      Smashwords     Barnes & Noble     Bella Books