Sometimes it's not all about the food.

The beautiful wife is a Brown owl to a local brownie pack and last weekend was their annual pack holiday. It was a joy to see so many young people with healthy and unfussy appetites. In fact most of the Brownies ate adult portions and then came back for seconds. Fresh air, excitement and activity are wonderful sharpeners of the appetite. However, it is not the quality or quantity of the food or indeed the ferocity with which it was eaten which will stay with me from this weekend.
Sometimes you encounter a situation where you know instinctively that, for a few minutes, everything is "right". God is in his heaven, the stars are aligned, the fates are on your side, however you want to describe it. This sense of "right" is not a learned response, it comes from within, a sense of settled calm and comfort; you simply know that all is as good as it could possibly be in that moment. You also know that you would not choose to be anywhere else in the world.
On the Saturday evening the Brownies had a fireside picnic. At the Guiding centre where they stayed there was a fire pit on some open ground and the Brownies made their choice of sandwich grabbed a piece of fruit, a cake bar and a bag of crisps and headed out to sit around it and eat their Tupper (A cross between Tea and Supper, I'm told).
The adults managed the fire and sat on benches among the youngsters who, all in a circle tucked in. One of the Young Guiders, a 19 year old on a gap year, brought out a guitar and as soon as the food was finished she played and we all sang. The weather had been fine and there was the tiniest hint of autumn's chill but the fire soon saw that off and there we sat in the shadow of the beautiful Chiltern Hills. The most glorious sunset was taking place around us, lines of pink and blue and grey thrown across the sky. For one precious hour, everything was perfect, so perfect that it made me want to cry. Lifelong memories were made that evening and I, for one have never enjoyed a plain ham sandwich more.