BBQs & Hunger Games
Extended family was in town a few weekends ago and I found myself at the Murray family compound celebrating my sister-in-law’s birthday. It was a welcome sight, driving up the gravel drive and seeing a fire in the fire pit, families gathered here and there, laughing, and children running around at play on the wide expanse of a lawn. It is something I don’t always see and often Little D and I comment on the reality of the nieces and nephew zoned out in front of a television, on their phones or engrossed in their portable video games.
Great food and beverages were had by all (and me with my gluten-free hot dog buns eyeing the pasta salads and wishing I could partake). It was nice to see how happy my brother was at the helm of the BBQ surrounded by his friends, and the big smile my sister-in-law had while in the kitchen, taking a birthday shot of fireball (the smile was there pre-shot mind you). It wasn’t so long ago that my father stood where my brother stood, and my mother was in the kitchen making margaritas.
My favorite moment of the evening? My sister-in-law spied from her vantage point on the deck that the children were down by the fire pit, having captured their intended, playing Hunger Games. I saw her walk to the rail and yell, “No, we don’t tie people up!” And there they were, by one of the posts of my mother’s grape vines, tying someone up, faces flush and triumphant. Commenting on this during the drive back to Portland, post-event, Little D’s mentioned she’d seen them dragging another child across the lawn with the same rope.
A little of Lord of the Flies, a dash of the The Cowboys, a good measure of The Hunger Games and you have the perfect recipe for children at play.