The Case for Picnics.

My unvaccinated friends and I hang out outside these days.

“I’m going to be able to tell my kids what this was like,” she says to me, matter-of-factly as we cross sun-drenched Seventh Avenue South to her tree-lined street in the West Village.

She doesn’t know how many times in the past year and change I’ve cried over how much I missed her. She doesn’t know that I’ve been ruminating on the idea that I still can’t pinpoint our Last Hug that we didn’t know was our Last Hug. She doesn’t know that, because I don’t intend on having children of my own, she and her brother are the most significant children in my life.

I don’t have to tell her “what this was like.” I just have to be present and appreciate our first masked hug at school pickup, the masked outdoor chasing games at the playground, and these walks and conversations that science and a declining positive COVID rate have finally, finally allowed us.

We aren’t “Back to Normal” yet — she’s not yet eligible to be vaccinated, because she is under the age of 12. Her parents and I share similar vigilance for COVID safety. I am fully vaccinated, but I also work in a bar that is indoors and involves people singing near me, so they aren’t comfortable with me spending time with the kids indoors yet. I respect, understand, and support that boundary.

I’m grateful for the time I get with the people I’ve missed for so long, and the weather’s gorgeous. We all win here.

This particular Spring feels so full of promise, because we are able to safely rediscover all these social gifts we’ve been missing in fourteen months of isolation. However, we’ve emerged from that time different than we were before.

Some have long-haul COVID symptoms and have less energy than before.

Some of your friends or acquaintances aren’t fully vaccinated yet — maybe they’re between shots, maybe they’re in the final two-week waiting period, or maybe they haven’t gotten the first shot yet, for whatever reason. Some vaccinated people have health conditions that impact their immune system. Some people have allergies that prevent them from getting vaccinated at all. All these people have to be hyper-vigilant while the general vaccinated public throws their masks to the wayside.

Some of us lost significant income and can no longer justify casual thirteen-dollar cocktails.

Some have developed severe social anxiety, or they dread witnessing strangers’ carelessness in the wild, because it brings up trauma responses from the mess that was 2020.

Some people are still going to want to wear masks and participate in harm-reduced activities for a little while, even if they are fully vaccinated.

Maybe none of these circumstances apply to you specifically, somehow, but I’m sure they apply to at least one person you love.

That’s fine. Let’s put on our sunscreen, throw some snacks in a bag, and go outside.

Even pre-COVID, I’ve always been down for a picnic.

Picnics are harm-reduced, adaptable, inexpensive, and casually collaborative.

Picnics can be boozy or sober. Picnics can be kid-friendly or adults-only. Picnics can be vegan, gluten free, and allergen-free…Or you can buy a package of pepperoni, a box of crackers, and some pre-sliced cheese and call it charcuterie.

Whether you’re on a field, a park bench, your backyard , a beach, a picnic table, or a gazebo, you can make the space work for you and your friends, or you can find a different space that fits or can adapt to everyone’s needs.

Want to order pizza to the playground? Want to cobble together whatever the bodega near your house has on offer? Want to grab a mélange of half-eaten snack foods from your house and shove them into your backpack to share with friends? I’ve done it all.

If you’ve got snacks and you’re outside —Congratulations! That’s a picnic.

Here are some tips from my recent picnic exploits, and maybe I’ll see you at the park sometime soon:

• Keep towels handy. This seems like an obvious one, but if you ever don’t know what to contribute, paper towels or reusable cloth napkins go a long way. Hand sanitizer does, too, but giving that advice feels very last year.
• Create an extra barrier. If you’re bringing things like dips, pickles, olives, or anything else that could spill or leak, pack all of those items into a reused plastic bag from your last takeout purchase or grocery order before putting everything into your picnic basket/tote bag/backpack.
• Repackaging is a godsend. If your bag is running low on space or if you’re throwing together half-used odds and ends from your kitchen, make use of your takeout containers or repurposed Mason jars. I especially like using round quart or pint containers to pack fruit or crudité after I prep and cut it at home.
• BYO Plates and Utensils. Sharing out of the same containers of food isn’t comfortable for everyone yet, so bring some (lightweight, preferably reusable) dishes and utensils for yourself and encourage others to do so as well. And pack extras in case people forget! This especially comes in handy if someone brings a Big Salad or supplies to make sandwiches. It is also usually less expensive to buy a larger quantity of a fun sparkling lemonade or seltzer and pour it into friends’ cups, water bottles, or Mason jars.
• Check what you have at home first. If you’re anything like me, money’s tighter now than it was before. If you can find something snackable or useful in your house, bring it with you! That way you’re preventing waste and saving money —we can all get behind that right now.
• Variety and balance are key. When it comes to the friends you invite, the foods you pack, or how you set up, everyone will have the most fun if you create an atmosphere of choice, flexibility, and safe abundance. Everyone’s needs and boundaries can be respected while you ease back into group socializing, whether it’s honoring a distancing boundary or making sure there are plenty of gluten-free options.
• Communicate and coordinate before you meet up. This clears up any potential issue, whether it’s a masking boundary or a “Too much dip, too few chips” scenario, so once you’re with your friends, it can be a relatively relaxed group gathering.

Now that many of us are no longer in immediate danger of dying from COVID-19, we can use this time to take care of our communities’ emotional and social needs by creating safe, accessible social spaces.

This is the Basically No-Knead Focaccia, but I’m partial to Alison Roman’s Overnight Focaccia, Tonight as well.

I’ll bring some olives, tzatziki, and a homemade focaccia to the next picnic. I’m assuming someone else has hummus and carrots covered.