Even I can’t think about George Bush’s plan to take over the world all the time. Every once in a while, “Aiz got-sta have a leee-tle fun.” And for those of us stateside (United States-states that is,) ‘Turkey Day’ is coming up. Now, ordinarily I don’t like even Turkey Day. In fact, I could scare up a whole other political blog on the propaganda surrounding Turkey Day. Not to mention the excess calories. But not this year. ‘Cause this year, three out of our four surviving sons are coming to our place for Turkey Day and that in itself is enough to be thankful for. So, to hell with diets and politics both. For anyone who’s interested, here are some of the little (and not so little) things, in alphabetical order, that make me smile*:
2. Berries - Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries. Tasting them one by one, or a spoonful with vanilla yoghurt. Nothing else to say except “yum.” Nature is so good to us.
3. Duncan Hines Deluxe Yellow Cake Mix - A very different food than berries, I know, but, come on– how can you not love everything about this stuff? The delicious scent of the powdery fine flour mix. Stirring in eggs, oil, vanilla and water, easy and even more fun than making mud pies when I was a child. Scraping the batter off the bowl. The way the kitchen smells as it bakes. The anticipation as it cools, of frosting the done cake with dark chocolate fudge icing. My husband’s smile when I hand him a slice. The moist, creamy taste when I take a bite. Mmmm. Yeah.
4. Frasier reruns - I’m so glad they’re still on air. Every actor in this sitcom is a super-talent. The writing is really something special and the actors deliver their lines with slapstick, genius timing. Two episodes air back-to-back, five nights a week here and hubs and I try to watch at least two each week. It’s so much fun to sit together, watch the actors do their thing and laugh, laugh, laugh.
5. Justin Oliver’s corny jokes – the reason I get to eat yellow cake (well, sometimes, anyway,) is because I work out with Justin Oliver. Apart from being an excellent trainer, Justin tells really excellent corny jokes. Like, “Hey, you better call a plumber- those pipes look ready to burst!” I love working out with Justin, because he makes me work hard. But he also makes me laugh. Those of us who work out with him can’t decide if we should pay him extra for that, or if he should pay us for all the corn kernels we have to shake out of our gym gear when we get home.
6. Laptop, My - my laptop is the way I make my living, my door to the entire world outside my little spot on earth, a testament to what genius man can create when he’s not busy making war and a great game board for ‘Spider Solitaire.’
7. Morning coffee on my patio – a morning spent on my patio is better than meditating. It’s surrounded by bay trees and oak, but there is one giant liquid amber tree, which every fall, scatters gold and red amongst all the green. There are deer, raccoon, squirrels, birds and other creatures who stop by. The grass around my patio smells sweet and slopes down to meet a creek, which trickles or surges, depending on the season. When I can drink my morning coffee on my patio, sitting there in the quiet of nature’s anticipation, I feel thankful, blessed and awed all at once. And the coffee tastes so much better, too.
8. Music - All kinds, from all countries. One of my VOX neighbours, Snowy, said that “music is the only sound you hear with your emotions rather than your ears.” So right. When I think about what musicians give to the world, I am proud that we have so many in my family.
9. Pete’s kisses - You know, it’s really not polite to boast about such things, but I have to say, I am one lucky woman to be the recipient of Pete’s kisses. Wow. Far better than berries or chocolate-frosted cakes. Perfect, in fact.
10. Red lipstick - Nothing makes me feel more feminine than a tube of red lipstick. Twisting up that sexy red cylinder of colour, slicking its softness over my lips, I feel I’m transformed from ordinary girl to fabulous woman when I’m wearing it. My favourite kind? Max Factor Midnight Red.
11. Sixth Sense – ESP, whatever you want to call it, (Pete calls it “nonsense” but he believes in ‘poker gods’ so he’s not fooling me) I’ve had the ability to sense what most people would say is extraordinary phenomena since I was a child. It only happens sometimes, when I’m not thinking about it, or trying to will it, but when it does, it’s accurate and astonishing. And I like it very much because it convinces me that there’s much more to this world than science or organised religion tells us there is.
12. Sons, mine and Pete’s – when I married Pete, we had five combined. My cousin Jo said, “Do you remember when we were young and you told me you wanted to have five sons someday, just like our grandmother had?” I had forgotten about that. She was right and I couldn’t have picked out five better sons from a line-up, if I’d tried. Each is wonderful in his own way. I’ll keep this simple and just say I love them more than anything. We lost one and he’ll always be missed, but the four who remain, just they alone, truly make life worth living for hubs and me.
13. Toddlers in supermarkets – Gosh, I love watching them. Whilst mum and dad push them in carts, they look around as though they’re in a wonderful, exotic country. Take them through the produce section and their eyes go wide at all the colours and shapes of the hundreds of fruits and vegetables. Seeing a supermarket through the eyes of a toddler makes me realise how remarkable some of the things we take for granted are. But the best part of toddlers in a supermarket, is waiting in the check-out line with one in front of me on the queue. I can make ‘peek-a-boo’ faces at them to pass the time waiting and they almost always smile with delight. To me, coaxing a smile from a toddler in a supermarket, is like winning a prize.
14. VOX neighbours – never in my life has it been this easy to meet so many fantastic human beings all at once. Knowing that I’m communicating with people based everywhere from Bombay to Sidney, male and female, ages 16- 70, who are all so intelligent, kind, funny, and loving, just restores my faith that we will all be all right and so will our planet, eventually.
15. Women in my life. They are strong, brave, loyal, hardworking. They encourage and comfort, they inspire, they have lifted me up when I needed getting off the ground. We share a drink, a story, a smile and our lives. They make the world better just for being in it. They are my friends. I’m proud of them and I would be lost without them. I won’t say I saved the best of this list for last, because it’s a tough call. But if I’ve learned one thing in all my years, it’s that if you’ve got just one truly good friend, you’re blessed with riches beyond counting. You know who you are, ladies.
Do I give thanks for all these things? Hell, yes. Thinking of them reminds me that, apart from every other reason we’re here, we’re here
to LIVE and ENJOY living.
And you? – What are some of your “little” things?
*Inspired by the Muse of Comedy, Thalia, who is shown here painted by the artist Thalia Took
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