100 things I love – a not-exhaustive list.
A cup of coffee in a quiet house, before anyone else wakes up.
The sound birds make just before dawn.
Windchimes
A breeze on a hot day
Gravy
Coming over a hill and seeing the ocean.
A crisp, sour apple.
Lemon drops
Dark chocolate with sea salt on it.
The brief gasp you make when coming in from a hot humid day and the air conditioning hits you
The way my muscles ache after a long walk – not exhausted, but pleasantly stretched and filled with the sense that I did something
Women vocalists
A perfectly done medium rare ribeye steak, cooked over charcoal
A baked sweet potato with butter, and nothing else
Waffle House
The smell of a freshly blown out candle
The sound of the Pacific Ocean crashing on the rocks
Falling asleep to the sound of ocean surf
A date night that includes a bookstore
A Diet Coke with cherry syrup in it from Sonic
A freshly made bed
The smell of freshly ground coffee
The smell of fresh cut grass
Sitting on the front porch during a thunderstorm
A long hardwood floor hallway
Plum jelly
Strawberry preserves
A hot biscuit with melted butter dripping from it
Cats – all of them
A long, slow meal with friends
Cooking for people I love
The way my friend Brian runs his hand up and down my back when he hugs me.
Deep burgundy roses
Chickens
Any room with a wall of book-filled shelves
The act of sharpening my pocket knife. It always reminds me of Dad.
Going for a walk immediately after a rainstorm.
My city
The smell of lavender
Gardenias in bloom
Southern Magnolias in bloom
A good all-beef hotdog, with chili and cheese and yellow mustard.
A pond full of goldfish
Watching birds bath on the edge of a pond.
Walking into an office supply store.
Seeing the dust motes dance in the sunlight streaming into a dark room
Button mushrooms sauteed in butter
The movie Harvey
When you go to a Mexican restaurant, and they bring you chips and salsa, and the chips are still warm.
Pulp mystery novels from the 1920’s-40’s.
How Renee has every card or note I have ever given her over the last 17 years
Opossums
Anthropomorphic animal illustrations
Large bodies of water
The southern Appalachian mountains
Tart, cold lemonade
The way my daddy would fry potatoes and onions in a cast iron skillet
The way Dad would answer my “Hey, Daddy?” with “Hey son.”
As a small child, when I would wake up it and would be foggy, and Dad would say it was froggy outside.
Sitting in a dark quiet bar, around 4:30 in the afternoon, with a pint of draft Stout
The sound of rain on a metal roof
Walking alone in a strange city
A long, hot shower
Implicit affirmations
Feeling known
Thick crisp bacon
Cut flowers
That people like to read things I wrote – it blows my mind, but I love it.
Sipping a Cafe Mocha while browsing a bookstore
A long solo road trip
Facebook memories (but not Facebook)
Family pictures
Watching children play
Watching birds scratch in piles of dried leaves
My sage green Fiestaware coffee mug
Cooking on a gas range
Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream
Earth-tone colored clothes
Being early
Oreos and ice-cold milk
A raucous cottage-garden flower border
Being asked for my opinion
Watching someone I trained thrive.
Being trusted with someone’s stories
Clothing without logos
Long vistas
The sound a canebrake makes when the wind blows.
Accent lighting
Daffodils
Handmade quilts
Boiled cookies
Live oak trees – bonus points if there is Spanish moss
People talking about things they are into
Inside jokes
A fire in a fireplace on a cold day
Me. Finally, at long last, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary – me.
What about you?
What are things you love?