Symphony on the Lawn

Once every year the town of Carlisle teams up with the Harrisburg Symphony for a concert on the lawn at Dickinson College. It’s a pretty lovely event that draws hundreds, if not thousands, of people to the beautiful campus right around the fourth of July. 

As a little girl I can remember being taken to this event year after year. I would lie still on an old quilt, grass poking through the airy yarn loops, listening to the distant music play in the background and breathing in the sweet, warm air. Some years I brought a crossword puzzle.  One year I even recall lying nose to nose with our new puppy. But, more often than not I was content to find long blades of grass and braid them together for no particular reason at all.

Over the years this event has evolved, as people make a night of it and share food with friends while enjoying the music. While we didn’t go as far as some (we passed one group sitting around a table adorned with a lit candle), we did pack a few snacks to put the cherry on top of a perfect summer evening. I would love to share a few photos....

I made this blackberry and strawberry galette as a red, white and blue dessert. 

Dani's delicious homemade lemonade, which you can opt to drink plain or sparkling. I chose sparkling!

One of my absolute favorite summer treats.

Baby Sommer was a pretty big hit with the surrounding folk.

Typically the symphony plays one Broadway medley and this year it was selections from The Sound of Music. Growing up our dad, pictured above, sang two songs (and only really ever in the car): "Dead Skunk"* and "Edelweiss." It just so happened that he was holding the baby when they played the latter and so I snapped this picture of him whistling it to her. 

My favorite part of the evening is when they play "Veteran's Day Medley." Men and women who have served in the military are asked to stand when their song snippet is played. It's pretty neat to watch them stand amongst the tapping toes (pictured above!), waving American flags and sea of audience members decked out in red, white and blue.

All in all, a pretty neat way to spend a Sunday evening. Until next year :)

*In case you are interested in singing Dead Skunk to your children (or anyone else for that matter) I will provide you with the lryics:

Dead skunk in the middle of the road (repeat 3x)

Stinkin' to high heaven. 

Say out loud in a sing-songy voice, preferably on a long car drive when you smell skunk :)