By Amy Miller

When I was a little girl, I remember my mom and I packing up our lunches and going on a picnic.

Our favorite spot was always Mauch Chunk Lake, where we would sit on a bench and just watch the wildlife on the lake and enjoy the afternoon breezes.

As I got older, picnics became fewer, not because my mom didn’t offer to go on a picnic, but because I kind of grew out of it, I guess.

But this year made me realize just how special picnics are to a family dynamic.

Since the pandemic began, my husband, kids and I would pack our lunch bags, order takeout and bring our blankets to practice social distancing in nature while enjoying picnics.

We even joked about starting a chart of all the places we have found to picnic over the last few months.

Our picnics have brought us to some of the prettiest parks and outdoor spaces we would have never experienced otherwise.

We shared a meal from Joey B’s and ice cream from Claude’s Creamery under the biggest and prettiest tree in the Palmerton Borough Park; enjoyed Irish egg rolls and chicken sandwiches and flatbreads from the Gorge Eatery on the grassy knoll behind Hofford Mill; and even celebrated our 10-year anniversary with Old Fashioned Italian Cheesesteaks from A Ca Mia under the shade of trees near the creek at Indian Trail Park, just to name a few places.

This pandemic, while it has made me feel a little uneasy yet about going to a restaurant to sit and break bread, has made us realize the importance of continuing to support our local restaurants by ordering out and going on our “glam-picnics.”

While the kids got to play, find frogs and enjoy the outdoors as it should be, my husband and I got to connect over decadent meals rather than one of us cooking dinner only to have everything devoured in 15 minutes and a sink full of dishes waiting to be done.

By picnicking, we are finding ourselves as a family, sharing blankets and laughs at places we normally wouldn’t be.

We made our own boccie court with nuts from a tree and a twisty tie.

We played tag and chased a toad that stubbornly decided that our tire rim was its new home.

And we grew closer as a family.

Will these picnics continue as the pandemic gives way back to normal life? Only time will tell, but I have to say, I sure hope they do.

But for now, I know I can say I see why the picnics my mom and I went on growing up were so important in forming the person I am today.

I hope that these picnics of today, whether it be in a park or in our driveway, will become fond memories for each of our children that they pass on to their children some day.