"Oh, my....Danny, this is beautiful! How did you ever find this place?" Ronda's eyes were wide as she took in the incredible panorama before her. A crisp, blue lake, reflecting the surrounding elm, oak and evergreen giants, seemed so calm and flat that it appeared you could almost walk on it. Only the occasional surfacing fish or frog marred its pristine surface. In the trees overhead, several species of brightly colored birds chirped and sang their mating calls from branch to branch. Behind the more distant trees, on the opposite side of the lake, majestic blue and purple mountains rose up to greet the clear blue sky.
The scene alone was breathtaking, both in its beauty and its serenity. But the piece de resistance of this magnificent natural wonder was the fact that, even though it was easily a hundred degrees on this midsummer day, only a hint of that formidable heat could be felt in the tiny, tree bordered, grassy field, where Ronda and Danny now stood, a field that slowly lost its vegetation and became more sandy as it meandered down to the shore of the lake.
"This is incredible," Ronda continued to marvel, "and it's so cool here. Just a quarter mile back it was like an oven...but this wonderful breeze..." She stopped to listen to the sound of leaves and pine needles rustling, whispering to one another in the almost continuously moving air, air kept cool by the shade of the towering trees.
"Hmm..I guess you do enjoy the breeze, huh?" Danny said, an ear to ear grin on his face. When Ronda followed his admiring gaze, she saw the reason for the grin. Her nipples - trapped in a flimsy but tight tube top - which had become accustomed to the searing heat, had been caught unawares by the cool breeze and were eagerly expressing their pleasure with it by trying valiantly to break out of that tube top to enjoy the breeze more directly.
"You!" Ronda exclaimed, grinning herself, "is that all you think about?"
"Nope," Danny replied, "but your cute butt doesn't react that way to breezes, or I'd be checking that out, too." He winked and bent to pick up the cooler he'd laid at his feet when he too had marveled at the scenery. Flinging the unwieldy blanket over his shoulder, he trudged forward. "C'mon, Ron...Paradise awaits," he said, winking back at her. Ronda likewise bent to retrieve the wicker picnic basket she'd set down. Her eyes continued to scan the amazing natural work of art ahead of and around her as she jogged to catch up with Danny.
"Just a little further down is a nice little area for a picnic," Danny said as she pulled up alongside him. "It's completely shaded, and it's just beautiful. All this grass ends about thirty or forty feet from the edge of the lake, and we can put the blanket there. It's nice and flat...hardly any rocks or stones. It's surrounded by trees and it's about as secluded as you can get. You're gonna love it."
"I already do," she replied, still admiring the beauty around her. "But, how did you find out about this place?"
"Well, actually, I just went exploring one day. It was back before I met you, and I just needed some thinking time...so I just roamed around is all...found this place completely by accident."
"Um...Danny...how do you know this isn't private property? We could be trespassing."
"Oh, Ronda....you wound me," he said, faking a grimace of pain and clutching his chest, "Do you think I'd bring you here, or anywhere, without checking it out first? Oh...the pain," he continued his cheesy acting.
"Oh, all right, Mr. Martyr," she tossed back at him, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow, "so, then, who does own this?"
"Actually, the state owns it. As far as I could find out, it's sort of like a state park. But I've come here at least a dozen times and I've never seen anyone anywhere near this place. It's like some well kept secret. Let's hope it stays that way." Then, looking at Ronda with a soft smile, he added, "I'd sure hate to share this lovely spot with anyone but you." Ronda smiled back, blushed slightly, and then crooked her free arm through his...walking the remaining distance to the picnic area arm in arm with him.
As Danny had told her, the closer they got to the sparkling lake, the more sparse the grass became. The ground beneath their sneakered feet was smooth and mostly rock free, only the occasional pebble breaking up the softness of the earth. And as they trod ever closer to the lake, what little grass remained fanned out to the left and right, forming a semicircle around the almost sandy soil. Fifty feet from the shore of the lake, a natural clearing was formed, nearly sand smooth and bordered on all sides by wispy grass and several towering trees. Ronda marveled at it. It almost seemed as if it had been sculpted this way...for her and Danny to personally enjoy.
Stopping almost dead center of the clearing, Danny set down the cooler to one side, near a soft and lonely tuft of gently swaying grass. He looked at Ronda and said, "Well, this seems like a perfect spot for the blanket," and he slipped the blanket off his shoulder. Ronda moved aside slightly as he began shaking out the blanket, holding it by one end so it would unfold and spread out as he slowly lowered it to the ground. The gentle breeze almost seemed to be helping him, as it puffed out the blanket completely as it slowly wafted to the soft earth. The position of the blanket afforded a perfect view of the lake, picturesquely framed on either side by shading trees. Danny wasn't far from the mark when he said, "Paradise awaits," for if it wasn't Paradise, it was certainly a very good copy.
Ronda was still admiring the view when Danny retrieved the cooler and brought it to the edge of the blanket. "Ron," he said, "I'm starving. What delicious goodies have you packed for us?"
She looked down at him and smiled, seeing him already making himself comfortable on the blanket, lying on his side and likewise gazing out over the vista. "Well," she quipped, "I guess you've been a good boy, finding this incredible place and all...so I'll show you what I've brought."
She sat on the blanket facing him, cross legged, with the picnic basket at her side. She opened one half of the hinged top and rummaged inside. From its depths she pulled a wrapped sandwich, which she handed over to Danny, saying, "This one's yours, oh man of mine. I made it nice and thick, because I know you're a man of hearty appetites." She used the pleural form of the word, knowing full well he would get her meaning. He did, and returned her wink with a wink of his own, and a sly smile.
Danny immediately unwrapped the sandwich and began devouring it. He really was hungry. It had been a long drive, and a long trek through fields and forest alike...and they hadn't eaten all morning. Here it was, just after 1 pm, and her man was indeed famished enough to attack the thick sandwich with great enthusiasm. Ronda unwrapped another sandwich and began gnawing away at it herself, not realizing at first how hungry she was.
Between bites, Ronda again rummaged in the basket, bringing out the usual picnic sundries...a bag of potato chips, a plastic canister filled to the brim with macaroni salad, napkins, plastic forks, paper plates and two plastic wine glasses. "Now it's your turn, Danny...bring out that lovely bottle of wine, please?"
Brushing crumbs off his hands and lips, Danny sat up and turned to the cooler, flipping off the lid. His right hand dove down into the sea of ice cubes and captured its prize...a long necked bottle of Chardonnay. As if he were a wine connoisseur, Danny held up the bottle and eyed it approvingly for several seconds, watching the moisture drip down the bottle, from it's tapered tip to its round, flat base.
"Um...are we going to drink it, or just admire it?" Ronda couldn't help commenting with a slight snicker.
"Oh...I see we took our wise ass pills this morning, did we? My dear, you might just pay for that little quip before this day is through," was his eye twinkling response.
"Yeah, yeah...promises, promises," she chided, "c'mon, Mr. Wine Expert...let's actually taste some of it, shall we?"
"Of course, lovely lady. I was just admiring it's shape...especially the neck...long and round and so firm. I'm surprised you don't appreciate those qualities," he said with a grin and a wink.
"Oh, you will never let me live that down, will you?" she said, shaking her head and blushing ever so slightly, "Just pour us some wine before I dehydrate, will you, please?" Her short giggle had a nervous tinge to it. From the basket, once again Ronda's hand pulled an object, this time a corkscrew, which she handed to Danny.
"As Milady wishes," Danny said, taking the corkscrew from her. He quickly unwrapped the cap, and applied the corkscrew to the thankfully cooperative cork, popping it out with a flourish, saying, "Voila! We have refreshment!" With a wicked grin, he then slowly stroked the neck of the bottle, up and down, for Ronda's benefit.
"Oh, stop that!" she said, blushing more brightly this time, "Just pour!" She held out the two glasses in front of her. Danny, chuckling, poured the wine, filling each deep glass about two-thirds full. Ronda handed him his glass and immediately began sipping from her own. As they sipped, their eyes locked, and they grinned at one another. Danny teasingly flicked his tongue along the edge of his glass. Ronda countered by slowly licking along the stem of her glass, all the way from it's rounded base to the lip. They both continued to grin throughout. A stalemate had been reached....for now.
The two teasing lovers ended their mutual visual stimulation and returned to the task of enjoying their meal and their wine. They chatted happily, admired the beautiful lake and its surroundings, hungrily devoured their picnic repast, and just relaxed, just being pleased with each others company. And, of course, every so often, one or both of them would tease and tempt the other. It was a beautiful, perfect day. Nothing more could be asked for.
After their long overdue lunch was ended, the two of them lay back on the soft blanket and looked up at the sky, the wispy clouds and the sky-seeking trees. Again they talked and laughed. The serenity and absolutely perfect peacefulness of this day seemed to seep into their bodies and minds, relaxing them completely...or... was it the wine? This was certainly possible, as between the two of them, the bottle was soon emptied.
And then something seemed to strike both of them simultaneously. They had driven and walked for hours to reach this spot. There was nothing anywhere near them except a vast lake and hundreds of acres of trees. They were totally alone...the ultimate outdoor privacy. In unison, Danny's and Ronda's heads snapped to face each other. They grinned. No one was around to see them in this miraculous place. No one...no one at all. This fact was not lost on either of them, and already the gears were beginning to turn.
