Evening Edge

It's another perfect day for a picnic.

I admit to being a minor fanatic of this fading form of entertainment. Whether elaborately planned or impromptu, the simple act of packing a meal and eating it somewhere else somehow makes the food taste that much better and the occasion feel more special.

Plus, you get the pleasure of feeding your friends without having to clean your home.

I own not one but three picnic carrying devices: a traditional flat-top basket, a fancy backpack with service for four (including a corkscrew and little plastic wine glasses) and a soft-sided cooler with a shoulder strap — perfect for feeding the masses. All come in handy, all summer long.

So, what constitutes a picnic? If you have packed food for more than one person and plan to eat it somewhere other than an office break room or a moving vehicle, then you are on a picnic. An outdoor setting is ideal, but not required: Several of my most recent picnics have been served at the renovation worksite of my carpenter boyfriend. (Where else is a guy encrusted in drywall dust going to eat?)

A recent visit to Piedmont Park proved that others follow these loose standards as well. On a recent warm night, I ran across Nick Popov and Shivanti Willy, both of Atlanta, enjoying the sunset with Magellan, a corgi. They had a blanket and a small cooler. The menu? Cold bottles of beer for Popov and red wine for Willy — served in a real glass.

"Nothing but the best for me," Willy joked.

Turns out the couple are a picnic just waiting to happen. Willy keeps a blanket in her trunk, and the pair is always ready to head to a park to kick back in the grass — for planned events such as Screen on the Green in Centennial Olympic Park or just because it's a pretty day.

"Last year I took her to an Atlanta Symphony concert right here at [Piedmont] park," Popov said. "It was really cool — a blanket, cooler, wine, beer and the music under the starry sky."

Sometimes, they said, they even pack some cheese and crackers.

That sounds good to me.

YOUR TURN: What is your ideal picnic? Where do you go, and what food and drink do you bring?