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My very favorite thing to do in the summer is to float on the local pond in my floating lawn chair with an iced tea and a new book of short stories. I can go when I want and I don't have to go home until I'm darned good and ready!
Having the time to pick up my parents, who no longer drive, and go for long, leisurely "Sunday" drives every day of the week. Observing the dwindling duck population as they migrate further north, watching for the buds to open, admiring the varying colors of the lake. We look at everything and stop for anything. What would be mildly pleasurable on a solitary drive is so much enhanced by being able to share it with my parents in their late 80s. As my father keeps quoting, "to love that well, which thou must leave ere long."
Location: Los Angeles>Little Rock>Houston>Little Rock
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Listening to the wind in the trees
Watching the trees
Thunder rumbling
Lightening flashing
Fireflies
Watching bats
Sitting near the ocean
Stargazing
Snuggling with my cats
I live about 100 yards from the Middle Fork Willamette river. I love to go down to the river in the late evening on a warm summer day and watch the trout feed on the mayfly and caddis hatches. I usually bring my fly rod but sometimes I like to just sit and watch the interplay of birds, insects, fish, and moving water.
One of my favorite things is happening right now. I've been awake for a while. The windows are open, and it's nice and cool with a slight breeze.
I am drinking my last cup of coffee for the day, and it's thundering now. It's quiet in the house, and I am alone for the first time all week. My husband has left to visit his brother for the day. Storms are expected later today, but then again, it's springtime in Oklahoma. I have nothing to do today except exactly what I want to do.
Doing exactly what I want to do....my favorite thing of all. (There's that thunder again. Love it!)
One great pleasure I'll miss if/when I move out of SE coastal Florida is rainbows. I see them all the time, as there are so many short squalls followed by bright sunlight. I will miss the joyous song of the tree-frogs when they have had a nice soaking but gentle rain.
If I can figure out a way back to New England I look forward to hearing birds in the early morning. I am not sure why unless it's my neighbors and their lawn chemicals, but there is no birdsong to speak of in my neighborhood. Another simple pleasure I've gone without in FL is preparing really good fish. Warm water fish lacks the texture I enjoy in New England fish. Mahi Mahi is pretty good, but not as good as New England fish. Pompano is excellent, but very hard to get here, having been overfished. Lobster? FL lobsters are mushy.
I work pretty hard, and so when I can take a brief break, I sip a little TV. The Cooking channel and HGTV shows I usually watch are mostly reruns, but I can catch 5 minutes before I remember how it all turns out. I also have a few authors that I reread serially--read through their stuff, start a different "comfort" author, read through that stuff. Rinse and repeat. My favorites for this are Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens and two favorite mystery writers of yesteryear--Dorothy Sayers and Rex Stout.
As I said, I expect the quotient of happiness in my life to increase if I can figure out how to move-- I have a plan A, which is not coming together so far. I'm developing a plan B now.
A few moments that have actually caused me to pause and think, "IT doesn't' get any better than this."
-- Good food and eating in general
-- The above, especially with my best friends and family. I remember a summer Friday night with acquaintances in a friends back yard. They had a tiki hut and a fire pit. From dusk to the early am, under the stars….some had beers, some had wine. We had a few snacks. The conversation meandered from marriage to current events, to kids, family, politics, vacation plans. I distinctly remember thinking. It doesn't' get any better than this. What can you need more out of life, that good times with family and friends. Of course it's easy to feel that way if one has no real worries in life. I was lucky enough not to have any.
-- Sitting on the porch -- at night looking up at the stars…or even on a rainy evening -- and thinking about how blessed I am.
-- Bowling with friends.
-- Standing at the top of a mountain, looking out over a lake valley below and the surrounding range. Taking in the majesty of it.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, watching TV. So it IS one of my great simple pleasures. I just usually don't pause mid-commerical to think, "Now, this is the life."
Depends upon the time of year but I really enjoy genealogy--the thrill of the hunt--by computer in winter, by going there in summer.
Short drives around New Hampshire or Maine, stopping to take pictures
Playing with my silly, lovable dog who makes me laugh
Library, of course
Growing a few vegetables in summer and not worrying about them drying out while I'm at work!
Making some beautiful floral areas in the yard and planting containers full of flowers
Taking closeup photographs of flowers
In summer, walking over to the beach on a very hot day with my sand chair to sit in the shallow water and watch the waves come crashing in
In summer, sitting on the deck of a popular beachside restaurant and drinking a bloody Mary with a great meal
Any time of year--taking off for a thrift store hunt. (was I a hunter in a former life?)
Do you have favorite simple pleasures that are low-cost and enjoyable?
Mine include riding my bicycle around, especially down wooded lanes,
Creating new ways to make vegetables into main meals,
Watching the activity in my backyard--the bird, squirrels, rabbits.
And cultivating a wee herb garden and harvesting the herbs for inclusion in meals...made pesto tonight out of our basil...lots of garlic!
Oh, and the library--in the reading room, perusing periodicals or searching the shelves for a gem of a book to read. Love the library.
What are your simple pleasures?
Sitting on my screen porch in the late afternoon sun, sipping whiskey, and smoking a cigar while reading a book. Typically for two hours from 5 to 7pm.
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