Bluegrass Picnic

Tonight will be my first evening at home in almost two weeks. I've been out of the house a lot lately and am looking forward to being home and getting some cleaning done. Isn't that sad, that I'm looking forward to cleaning?

Last night was my knitting night instead of our typical Wednesdays. There was a bluegrass band I wanted to see playing down in Indianola (for Bluegrass Tuesdays on the Square) and one of the knitting girls figured we could take our knitting outdoors for a change. I raced home after work to change clothes, grab my knitting, and pick up some snacks. After a quick bite to eat with Jeff I headed to our meeting spot and the group headed south to Indianola. We arrived at the town square just as the band was getting started.

We were there to see Mr. Baber's Neighbors, a local bluegrass band that has developed quite the following. And with good reason. These guys were good. We found ourselves a shady spot, spread out Jeff's old army blanket, and had a wonderful picnic. We had two types of cheese, crackers, fresh bread with yummy spreads, grapes, carrots, kettlekorn, and cider. It was far more food than any of us needed but we did a great job polishing it off (I should not have had that quick bite with Jeff. Stuffed!!!). We sat out with tons of other local residents, knitted, talked, ate, and listened to great music. There was something so relaxed about the whole evening. I loved the people watching, there were tons of families and couples and older people. It was a wonderful feeling of community. After my hands got tired of knitting I just sat back, relaxed, and people-watched.

The weather was perfect and when the band wrapped up at about 8:45 I don't think any of us were ready to head home. We were some of the last people on the square. Once back in Des Moines, we stopped for Dairy Queen and then separated for the night. A great evening filled with good friends, good music, and good food.