Once upon a time, about the summer
of '97 when we had a dear one
in a rest home here on the Rio Grande
in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains....
well this "dear one" had
four sisters, with nieces galore...and guess
what: They all decided to come for
a visit ... from Texas, Oklahoma, and
even California---and throw in a few
random in-laws who tagged along...
The plan was that they, ensconced in
a large motel & would eat wherever,
you know, in Old Town...while shopping
and stuff, like wimmin' do... but
we would have one giant dinner at a
Mexican food place. and ONE PICNIC,
......being summer time, and all.
And I, being a noted and respected
Sous Chef ("in my own right") was
chosen to "select the chow" (did you
catch the clever alliteration?)
With my advisors' help, we selected
Bear Canyon Park, nearby our
domicile, with its nice trees, green
grass, cement picnic tables,
with benches, and the magnificent
adjacent arroyo, filled with cacti, yuccas,
bear grass, rabbits , and a covey
of graceful, fat, scampering Blue Quail,
who tho't they owned the place...
(I mean if you got to the edge of the
arroyo, you might find yourself
at the bottom, among the rocks, but---
it was always dry except during
storms!
So all was set for that late afternoon
picnic--and directions were given
to all , and as the old experienced
Sous Chef talked to the folks, one
nice aunt said (as wimmin' do):
"Can we BRING anything?"
Being a bit of a comedian as well as
poet, "I cleverly replied, "No, we've
got everything, a bunch of aunts,
except NO PICNIC ANT...haha"
The soft drinks were ready, the
big bags of potato chips, the
donuts, brownies, and the main
entree---
A forty-eight inch sub sandwich,
on a giant BUN, with turkey, ham,
cheeses, & overflowing with. green
peppers, onions, cucumbers, lettuce,
tomato, green chiles, mushrooms,
and slathered with plenty of mayo..
An hour later the people were there,
the tables were spread, the flies
were being shooed, and the designated
"Grace-Pray-er" was set to go...then
someone said:
"We can't start. Aunt Macie and
Niece Susie are not here yet!"
Ah, in life ..."if glitches ...can happen..
they will..."
But right then, rocks were heard rolling
down into the arroyo, and struggling
up right in front of us were Macie and
Susie, and the young grinning one
was carrying a beat-up foam cup, as if
she was having a cup of coffee...
and she headed directly for the
corner of a cement table, and poured
out a cupful of dirt, right onto the
table...AND AS A BIG RED ANT
dazedly crept out of the arroyo
dirt. Susie announced proudly
. "WE CAN START THE PICNIC,
HERE IS YOUR ANT!"
---------
BY MIL
6 AUGUST 2020
Artist Drawing...by B.E.
