Make Time - You actually have to get out there to make new memories

Serendipitous Second Date

Sapphire blue skies from the shade of a giant tree

February is a pretty warm month where we live in Sydney, Australia. In fact it’s an exceptionally hot month with temperatures hovering around 48C most days, but on this sapphire blue sky day it was a pleasant 30C or round about there. Jonathan and I had set our sights on having a picnic in a recreational area of the expansive grounds of our local shire; Fagan Park. A place we know and love.

We could find a quiet shaded area to place our picnic rug and unwind from our busy lives. Yet, it was our busy lives that nearly stopped our outing. James had some work to prepare for the week ahead and as it was already Sunday, there really wasn’t much time left of the weekend. Frantically he clicked away at his keyboard hammering out the required data until he was satisfied with the graphs and tables represented. 

Lunchtime was almost upon us and we hadn’t packed our basket because of the uncertainty of going at all. I had bought all the goodies in anticipation of going on our date day picnic so it really was just a matter of throwing everything in and hopping into the car. 

Happy to have made the effort our good fortune continued.

We found a secluded shady spot, laid our picnic rug out and meandered around the wooded patch of the grounds surrounding us. We came upon a make-shift grotto with waterfall and marble stairs leading up to lion statues offering a vista across the vastness of the park. We could see corners of the international gardens, lakes with bridges spanning across and ducks gliding on the metallic body of water.

This little saunter helped James to switch gears from work mode to relaxation and we settled comfortably on our picnic rug with happy sounds of children playing and birds twittering in the distance. My favourite mode of relaxation is what I call a ‘head wobble’. I love nothing better than to nod off into a light doze and waken to pleasant surroundings before nodding off again and repeating the process. This occurred a number of times until both Jonathan and I were well sated and decided it was time to eat.

Out came the bread rolls, out came the cheese, out came the chicken slices and kombucha drinks, cushions, bug repellant and sunscreen but there was no sign of any crockery or cutlery. So a finger lunch it was and we were none the worse for wear.

In fact, to begin with when planning out a rough schedule for our Date Year, I had ear-marked February for Gold Class movies because of the expected heat. As there were no movies showing that we were interested in seeing we swapped things around and ended up at Fagan Park.

Two points I want to make regarding our picnic: we had to make a substantial effort to get there, particularly James who was not part of the initiating process so that meant a whole lot more to me than just the date event. He went above and beyond to please me in order to fulfil our commitment to this Date Year – major growth in my half of our relationship right there!

Secondly, the synchronicity of the beautiful weather and no movies of interest resulted in a blissful relax and unwinding together as we bonded without any distractions pulling us apart. Sometimes the Universe knows better. 

The main purpose of my date revival after 30-odd years of marriage was to manufacture pockets of quality time together. Time when we could simply chat without any agenda, without having to solve problems, discuss family troubles or work woes – yes all of those discussions are important but even more vitally important is to be heard. 

Just talking, listening, hearing.
Elora is a relationship writer with tips that empower you to build greater relationship success.

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