Some of my favorite things

As I've mentioned before, when my writing students don't know what to write about, I suggest they make a list. Often something on that list will trigger something that they can elaborate one. I am taking my own advice. This list will be some of my favorite things, with 'things' being interpreted in the broadest way possible. These things will also be in the order I think of them with not merit being given to being higher on the list.

1. Libraries

I know this surprises no one. I'm sure it also would not surprise anyone who works at our local library because I'm running through there multiple times a week to check out books on hold that have come in. Probably more specifically, I should say I love libraries with online portals to put books on hold. Often I will read about a book I want to look at, put it on hold, and then be surprised when the book arrives because I have forgotten about it. It's the little things in life, isn't it? Also, where else can you go, grab whatever you want off the shelves and take it home, then instead of it cluttering up your home, you can just return it when you're done with it... all for free?! Libraries truly are amazing places.

2. When adult children drop by

This doesn't really need any explanation, does it? I love seeing my adult children, chatting with them, and enjoying the amazing adults they have become. 

3. Watching a child finally figure out something they had struggled to learn.

Not only is this a great relief to everyone involved, there is something so satisfying when a concept is finally understood. It almost seems as if you can see the child's brain growing. You can certainly see their confidence grow. This week's instance of this phenomenon? Some children finally really understanding how to make like fractions when needing common denominators. Sometimes I shout, "Eureka!" when a child has sorted it all out. This amuses my children with a classical history bent.

4. Hanging out with my horses

I am still so overwhelmed with thankfulness when I think about owning four horses. They are good for me. I also think I am good for them as I watch the more reactive of the horses become calmer and better adjusted both with people and other horses.

5. YouTube videos of people making things

One of my favorite ways to spend time is to do my own creating... spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting, etc. ... while watching other people make things. Often I choose videos of things I am not familiar with or videos of people doing things I already do but at a different, more advanced level. This is partly because I am an information hoarder and because it kind of feels as though I am not alone in my creative endeavors. (While I know there are other weavers and spinners out there and that I have met some of them when taking classes, among my circle of acquaintances, I'm the only one who does these things.)

6. Fresh food from the garden

We had pesto on spaghetti for dinner tonight. The basil in the garden this year is doing extremely well and is pretty enormous. Since we were already making pesto, I picked double the amount of basil we needed and we made a second batch that we froze. My plan is to make a lot of pesto to freeze this summer. The tomatoes are taller than I am now with lots of green fruit. We will be inundated once they really start to ripen. This is a lovely problem. I also have quite a few green beans that I picked this evening which I'm considering pickling and turning into dilly beans to have on the shelf for the winter. It's like free food in the backyard, especially since I started it all from seed.

7. Air-conditioning

While I don't love paying the electric bill, I do love being cool inside the house when it is so warm outside. 

8. Having the bills paid and still being able to buy groceries

I don't love paying the bills, I do love having the chore over with. This is how I spent the morning and it always feels like a relief to realize that I don't have to rely on the pantry for all of our dinners until the next paycheck. There has never been a lot of margin in the budget, but it works... somehow. For the past couple of years it has been a slightly wider margin than before, but the gas prices recently have done in that margin. So, like everyone else, we'll be more careful for a while. But still, I do love the feeling of finishing a dreaded job.

9. Being asked my opinion

I have a lot of them, opinions, that is, and I like to share them and discuss my favorite topics. I know I have a tendency to be intense, so I try to keep it in check much of the time. This is probably why I keep this blog. I can share my opinions whether or not someone asks me. But if someone does ask me... I do try to rein in the intensity even then. 

10. Warm beverages

You can tell what time of day it is by what is in my cup. The morning starts with coffee which I drink in bed. By afternoon I've moved onto tea. Both of these are hot even in the summer. There is just something so soothing and comforting about holding a warm cup in your hands. Until the beverage gets cold, and then I have to go heat it up in the microwave, though it is never quite the same. And then sometimes I forget the tea or coffee in the microwave, finding it only when I go to warm up the next day's cup. This is actually something that has gotten better as I have gotten older. I think it was the distractions that many little children can create that caused me to lose track of my drink.