Photo courtesy Edgar Olivera |
Photo courtesy Michal Kubicek |
Introduction by Ted Kooser: I recognize the couple who are introduced in this poem by Patricia Frolander, of Sundance, Wyoming, and perhaps you’ll recognize them, too.
Photo courtesy Jake Hills |
Photo courtesy Tori Campbell |
Photo courtesy Milada Vigerova |
- Take Tank to the beach. Yes, really.
- Go to the library to write (the only downside is I can’t take my coffee with me).
- Take a week’s “staycation” (or maybe several long weekends?).
- Go to a Tampa Bay Rays game with my mom when she visits in August.
- Sketch in my sketchbook. Maybe even finish—i.e., fill all the pages of—a sketchbook!
- Make homemade frozen pops. I never got around to doing it last summer.
- Try a month of unlimited classes at Karma.
- Spend a day by the pool.
- Go to the beach at sunset with my husband.
- Rewatch The Princess Bride and Support Your Local Sheriff (my cat is named after the female lead in this movie).
- Try the new gelato place in town.
- Make pesto with the basil from my garden. (Done!)
Introduction by Ted Kooser: Of taking long walks it has been said that a person can walk off anything. Here David Mason hikes a mountain in his home state, Colorado, and steps away from an undisclosed personal loss into another state, one of healing.
Sometimes when we search for happiness, we forget to start with the basics. We don’t feel happy because our lifestyles are not conducive to happiness. That’s the premise of Happy Guide, by Michael Kinnaird. This short book outlines a plan for addressing the basics that affect our health, and ultimately our happiness.
- Start and end your day with a simple pleasure. For me, it’s a cup of coffee and homemade mini scone in the morning, and reading in bed at night.
- Work simple pleasures into your day as rewards for completing your must-dos. I sit down with lunch and a book after a busy morning instead of eating at my desk (or worse still, while I unload the dishwasher). I listen to my iPod while vacuuming or pick up a coffee while running errands.
- Share your pleasures with someone else. My five-year-old self understood this. One of my biggest joys was buying a candy bar for each person in the family and putting it on the dinner table with the place settings. At the time, my mom and I lived with my uncle and aunt, and on my tiny allowance, I could just afford to buy four Hershey bars for us all every now and then. Sharing pleasure with someone else makes it even more…pleasurable.
What simple pleasures will you enjoy this weekend?
I know I’m late to the party, but I recently
joined Instagram (follow me here—and if you’re on Instagram, let me know so I
can follow you!). I finally have a smartphone that takes
decent pictures, and I’ve always thought Instagram sounded like a fun way to
record simple pleasures and everyday adventures. I’m still figuring out how to
use the features, making mistakes and bumbling around. I was lying in bed
contemplating what I might post, when it crossed my mind that it would be amusing
to see what my pets would share if they had their own Instagram accounts. I
decided to take some pictures from their points of view and share them here.
First up, if Prudy had an Instagram account, this is what
she would post (FYI, the following pictures were taken with my phone, but not
actually posted to Instagram.):
First things first—a selfie. |
My favorite: the ’nip. |
I like to knock this in the pool every day—it doesn’t seem to know how to swim. |
My nemesis. |
Where I hone my razor-sharp, tree-climbing claws. |
If you keep a journal, what type is it? Do you ever go back to reread it? What have you learned from keeping it?
Acres of blueberry bushes |
What did you do this weekend?
Image courtesy Always Well Within |