{"id":108526,"date":"2026-03-08T16:27:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=108526"},"modified":"2026-03-08T16:27:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:27:05","slug":"modern-picnic-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/?p=108526","title":{"rendered":"modern picnic table"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With temps in Los Angeles unable to stay out of the 80s\u00b0F for long, the absence of a picnic table in my life rose to the level of an all-consuming void. Marty knows this fixation of mine well and has talked me out of my sense of picnic table deprivation for years. Too big, too heavy, termite candy, another albatross to maneuver around, not critical, important or necessary. And the kicker: We’re spending summers elsewhere. All sound arguments against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_4435\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
Sonchus palmensis jumped into bloom this warm week. 87F on Sunday March 8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That I’ve long craved a picnic table and not just another table and chairs or benches might have had something to do with everything signified by “picnic” — a lark, an escape, an impromptu playful gathering. The more chaotic things get, the more power that word holds over me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_4418\"<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Last weekend I idly search-stringed “modern picnic table” and was shown a powder-coated, lightweight aluminum table and benches with rounded corners. Orange color on sale. With tax return in the bank, I dusted off my standard picnic table pitch but this time had photos and dimensions. To make him laugh, I included my disingenuous running joke of a justification, “Think of the parties we’ll have!” (He prefers more parties than I do.). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_4432\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
benches tuck under table for a small footprint, and the fence works as back support if desired<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This time the pitch worked, and my arguments in favor won the day. The table arrived three days later. In the interim I admit to worrying that my picnic table fever just possibly made me an easy mark for some junky merchandise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"IMG_4431\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
The hardscaped east side of the house has been bare since downsizing pots and stuff in 2021. In other words, crying out for a picnic table. The orange Loll couch was moved beyond the fringe tree in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Marty assembled the table and benches in under two hours, expressing admiration for the packaging, design, assembly instructions, and inclusion of all necessary components. He loves it and is no doubt dreaming of the parties we’ll have (ha!)…and with picnic weather temperatures nearly year-round now in Los Angeles, my crazy picnic table fixation arguably just makes good sense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With temps in Los Angeles unable to stay out of the 80s\u00b0F for long, the absence of a picnic table in my life rose to the level of an all-consuming void. Marty knows this fixation of mine well and has … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[2807,5120],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNJ2E-seq","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108526"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108583,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108526\/revisions\/108583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrowingobsession.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}