Every once in a while you just need to play hooky. You need to take a break from the hard stuff, from the irritating, bothersome or looming issues facing you and escape. Frankly, the stuff facing us is primarily medical and sufficiently worrisome to merit an escape.

After breakfast and a lovely and unexpected Facebook video chat with my daughter, we headed out to pick up a few needed items at our local Discount Drug Mart. We live in small-town America and this place has a little of everything.

We get back in the car to head home, and my husband suggests that instead of going home we have a picnic. Why ever not?

• It is February.
• We live in Ohio.
• It is brrrr cold outside.

How can this be accomplished? Easy-peasy. We count our coinage and come up with four dollars worth of quarters and a couple dollar bills. Yay!

We drive through that haute couture establishment, McD’s, and order a couple McDoubles and a medium order of fries. We had some ketchup packets stashed in the car which was doggone good because I totally forgot to ask for any.

We head to one of our favorite parks and turn up Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and have a picnic in the car.

Life is short. Sometimes you just need to escape. Even for a little. Even for a picnic in winter.

Thank you, RSM for the idea.

Thank you, McD’s for the food.

Thank you, Lord, for the park.