What I Learned From My Hippie Table Cloth

We had eight people over for dinner on Thursday night.   For the first time we ate on the back porch. We shoved three smaller tables together on the deck.  It made one very odd-looking  table.  I covered it with the hippie wall hanging/bedspread that I bought it at a yard sale because it reminded me of something my roommate hung on a wall of our dorm room in 1975.  

Suddenly we had some kind of theme for our dinner. This would be cozy and laid back. The guests didn’t expect an elegant dinner.  My table cloth was hippie, laid back and fun.  So the people who sat down at the table already knew what kind of dinner it was going to be.  They relaxed and ate with their fingers sometimes. They talked and laughed and passed picnic food and grilled meat.

I don’t think all the “good vibes,” came from the peace and love tablecloth.  They came from Roger and me.  We set the table, put on the food, and then thought about the people  we ate with. They got to know each other and we got to know more about them. 

Even when we ran inside as it started to rain, nobody went home.  We all just sat in the living room and talked. I hope the company had as much as fun as I did.

Come over sometime and eat with us.  I’ll get out the hippie table cloth. Or any other one you pick. Roger and I will be glad to see you. Let that set the tone.