We’ve all learned the seasons early in our formal education: spring, summer, fall, and winter.
And along the way we’ve picked up the start and finish of others, the ones you won’t find on most calendars. Fishing season, deer season, planting season, jump rope and marbles season as well as baseball and football for an incomplete list.
Today we highlight patio season. Especially, patio dining. It runs parallel to baseball season in St. Louis, yet it has a certain independence. The exact start date is not determined by a conference of sports exectutives in a hotel room months in advance. No, it’s decided by individual managers with an eye to the local weather and perhaps a determining factor of obtaining an extra server or two.
Size varies from two or three tiny tables on the sidwalk to larger areas with boundaries defined by short fences. Many will allow well behaved dogs on an outing with their owners. Some of the sports bars feature one or two screens to watch the game.
Sunset comes early now that we’ve set the clocks back to “standard” time. The number of patrons requesting outdoor seating dwindles to zero. (Unless a very hearty soul with a Saint Bernard in tow walks up.) The umbrellas remain folded. Soon the tables and chairs will be put into storage. We’ll be back. When fresh flowers poke up in the planters and light jackets become warm in the lunchtime sunshine.
