Rudy drove carefully into our driveway with a smile beaming across his face and a twinkle in his eyes. His wife Lorraine sat elegantly beside him as he backed the car into our driveway. They were fifteen minutes early. What a delight to see them in a 1929 Ford Model A.
The car was restored to the nines with shinny black fenders and a smoky tan body. It gleamed in the spring time sunny day in May. Not a spec of dust would dare settle on this gem. We rushed to the rolled down car window to greet them and compliment Rudy on his pride and joy. Lorraine told me he restored it from the ground up from boxes of scrap. I heard Rudy tell Stand it was just like his first car that was also a ’29 Ford Model A.
The rest of the guests trickled in and stopped short to admire the car and its beauty. Cameras came out of pockets and pause to catch this moment in time.
The group chatted happily as they moved to the back yard for an afternoon picnic. It was such a peaceful quiet sunny day. Two days earlier large snow flakes had fallen most of the day with chilly breezes in unpredictable Colorado weather. But not today. It was delightful.
Most of the 25 to 30 people knew each other from our dance club. Stan and I had planned the picnic on a Sunday dance day. Women were in flowing dresses and men in crispy ironed shirts added to the festive mood. We had planned this event for a couple of weeks and had started the baking and cooking on Friday. There was tasty food galore, featuring chicken tortilla soup, cabbage burgers and a bowl full of potato salad using Stan’s mom Alice’s recipe. There was plenty of chips and guacamole seven layer dip along with veggies. For dessert I made my Mom’s favorite picnic dessert, German chocolate cake, a cherry and peach pie using some frozen peaches from last years bountiful crop. The crowd mingled drinking mostly wind and a few beers.
We had three picnic table and numerous chairs we had collected over the years that were ready for the guests. Two of the picnic tables had scene better days. Back on the late 70’s we had a similar gathering of relatives in our back yard when we first moved back to Denver in 1976. The yard filled with my parents, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and their children from my Mom’s side of the family. My Dad had driven from Greeley to Lakewood in his pick-up with a picnic table. He hadn’t said he was even coming, but somehow knew I would need it. It sure helped provide more seating and table space.
That year we had moved our kitchen table and chair outside too. That old maple table with early American style chairs has long since been replaced as our kitchen table. However, unable to toss out usable things, the old kitchen table and chair have been neatly stored in our backyard shed just for these spring parties. People never seem to complain about the outdated style when they enjoy an afternoon in our yard.
The other redwood picnic table has a history of its own. It had belonged to Stan’s Dad, John, and was a discard from the New York Parks Service where John had spent his career. The table was designed so the benches were bolted to the table’s frame. Alice and her second husband Mitch, had delivered the word and hardwood on a drive they made in the 70’s from Florida to Denver. That is a long way to haul wood. How could we ever part with that table. That year Stan sanded down each piece of wood and put the table back together. It was our key backyard dinning place for years. It weathered away as did my Dad’s table over the years. One year I added a coat of redwood stain to both to perk them up.
By the late 80’s John, our son, had bought himself a home in Longmont. Time to fix up the park service table again. Apart it came, sanding began to each board. The wood was so dense and soon was smooth as a baby’s skin. When they were finished the table moved to John’s backyard. By the mid 90’s John’s company sold out to Brook’s automation and moved the company to Boston. Back came the park service table to our yard. It was put off to the back of the yard with Dad’s table and all the other accumulated piles of wood, compost pile and the like.
But on this party day in 2008 all the table came out to the middle of the yard. No time this year to stain and sand, so Stan using his creativity came up with the idea to cover the seats to smooth rough spots for people to sit in their dancing clothes. Both old tables got the bright red covers from a role of fabric that had been stored at the apartment.
Everyone smiled and had a great day.