Concert in the Park

Tonight I went to a concert in the park and it was such a beautiful night to be out enjoying the cover band, Dam Road Closed.

I have forgotten how many things I used to do by myself and tonight was no different. I suppose some people would feel uncomfortable going out into public and sitting alone. However, I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't somewhat shy about heading in front of this massive crowd to take a seat, but I did it. I kept telling myself that I drove across the country to (essentially) live by myself; listening to music alone is the 'easy' part!

My little blue lawnchair and I pulled up to a spot on the outskirts of the crowd behind a family of 6, plus their little dog. Everybody had picnic baskets, there was some food for sale on the street, and train rides going around the park.

I think I'm a closet-people-watcher. Normally I don't like staring at people when they walk by (because I know people are watching me walk by and it creeps me out), but tonight I totally enjoyed it! I got some friendly smiles, some hello's, and was able to pet most dog that roamed by eating leftovers off the ground.

I always wonder how people met each, if they're happy, where did they come from, and thoughts of this nature...some people looked bored out of their mind, others were dancing and singing with the band. There was a young dad there with his son, who was probably about 6, and he looked disgusted the entire time. The kid was running ALL over the place and the dad wouldn't even try to find him. Maybe he knew he'd come back, I don't know, but it made me wonder what kind of relationship they had between one another.

The smells reminded me of tailgating up at ISU...that bbq smoke blowing over the crowd, people were talking and laughing and just having a good time. What I did find kind of funny was the fact that where we would have beer/kegs/cases, most of the people were drinking wine and some of the bubbly goods. You can tell you're in a different part of the country when folks are walking around with actual wine glasses filled with their favorite red or white wine and not cans of Bud Light!

Oh and I love watching little kids dance - it makes me laugh out loud and I literally had tears in my eyes watching this girl next to me, who was probably 3. She would pull her shorts from the bottom of the legs WAY up, so you could see her little undies and then she would turn around away from her mom and shake her little booty... oh my gosh, it was the funniest thing! I totally would have taken a picture, but I didn't want her mom to think I was some lunatic.

I watched a big dog and it's owner walk in front of me and while she was talking to somebody, the dog was eating cheese out of a bowl that some people had sitting next to their wine glasses on a tiny table. I didn't have the heart to tell the guy not to eat it after watching the dog drop a piece back in the bowl. I silently laughed though.

Maybe I'm getting back on track and putting myself out in situations that I haven't faced on my own for a while. It felt good to be out and about on this beautiful summer night.... but I also know deep down that I want to have a picnic and take my own family to a concert in the park some day, too.

Some day.