Al fresco dining

@Really Oh. Pretty!

@Nelladell It's where I was on VE night. Magic place for a kid from the city. I wish I could recreate the experience of Smoky Joe's cafe where hot fat, fish'n chips and vinegar mingled with the smell of ice cream to form an unforgettable aroma.

@Really VE was a big deal here; I can't imagine what it must have been over there, even in Scotland.

@Nelladell My Dad was in the air force, unfit for active duty and posted to RAF Edzell, a maintenance 'aerodrome' in the NE of Scotland. Mother & I joined him there and we lived in a rented house in the village.

V.E. day was a huge deal. All afternoon happy people were throwing wood onto a huge pile on the village common. I was told it was for a 'bonfire'. I'd never heard that word and I was nonplussed. At 8 years old I only knew of outdoor fire as a danger created by the enemy. They were going to make a big one deliberately - why would anybody do that?

But I can't describe the joy and jubilation on the common after dark, with hundreds of people laughing and cheering around the huge fire, and airmen firing colored flares into the night sky. Many of Dad's fellow airmen were there. Doubtless there were drunks but they'd have fit right in. I was allowed to stay up past midnight!! Truly a night to remember, and I still do.

What was it like where you were?

@Really I lived on a subsistence farm. The only time folks in our neighborhood left their farms was on Saturday; first, for a trip to the county seat to sell eggs and maybe garden produce, to shop for a few things, and meet and greet. Second for Saturday night hoedowns at the school house. So that day there was cheering around the radio and excitement on the party line (telephone). I was only 10, myself. Actually, I think that VJ day was just as happy, maybe happier, at our house.