The Romantic.com

STOKED AND SMOKED

submitted by: Craig Bowser

Several years ago, when I was just starting to date my wife, two friends (who were also dating) decided we should take our girlfriends on a picnic.  However, since it was only February, the traditional park location was out of the question.  So we decided to move the whole affair indoors.  We gathered picnic baskets, paper plates, paper cups, the whole deals.  We even spread a green tarp in the living room for ‘grass’.  OK, the paper trees we tried taping to the walls didn’t work as well, but we were trying to create an outdoor atmosphere in the house.  We even planned to light a fire in the fireplace, which wasn’t truly picnic-y, we felt it did add to the romantic atmosphere.

The women arrived shortly after we were set up and we proceeded to serve them a great picnic lunch. At that point I went to light the fire.  Not having much experience at that point with fire places, I forgot to open the flue and the room quickly filled with smoke!  Lunch was delayed for 30 minutes or so as we had to open up all the windows and doors (and the flue) to air out the house.  Thank goodness it was a picnic where the food was served cold (and now smoked!).  The women must not have been too put off by our mistakes since we all married our dates!