Simple Pleasures

 Thanks for bearing with me as I redesign my blog. I was kinda tired of the coffee cup that sprouted birds! :) This new one has some flaws, but I kinda like it...for now!

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This morning as I was putting a clean trash bag into the kitchen waste basket, I thought to myself how good it felt to have a new, empty, and fresh smelling trash can. It was a simple pleasure, but welcome none the less- and it made me reflect on the simple joys in my life...

Some things that touch our lives are not always big things. Sometimes they are subtle, silent...small...

I love the simple joy of clean towels- the terry cloth touched with a hint of lavender- the way they stack neatly into a tower and await their duty after a shower. I love them hot from the dryer, fluffed with fabric softener and thick with quiet pureness.

I love the simple joy of birds. Of lemon-colored finches as they poke at a tower of thistle. Of cardinals as red as flame bobbing for sunflower seeds lost in a snow drift- and blue birds so blue that it almost hurts your eyes to see their pointed wings against a sea of grass.

I love the simple joy of my favorite chair. Worn slightly on the right side- the upholstery blotted with faint rings of spilled coffee... and the cushions hiding a smidgen of cookie crumbs. I love the way I can curl my feet up and be perfectly at peace... read a thick novel...take a tiny nap... or just sit and watch the world outside my window turn with the seasons.

I love the simple pleasure of the night sky. Especially when it glows with the dots of a million stars... and fireflies  pulsate with beating lights across the dewy fields...when the moon is so big and round and yellow that you can almost touch it...when it envelopes me with the songs of crickets and katydids and the smell of damp, sweet, perfumed darkness.

I love the simple pleasures of  smooth rocks. Of finding a round stone in the creek that's been polished by years of rain water and sand...Of odd shaped pebbles that fit comfortably in my hand...that beg to be rubbed with a tender thumb...that look like a collection of sleek, shiny soldiers when lined up on the window sill.

I love the simple pleasure of new socks.  Of the way they seem to wrap around my feet like a layer of cotton skin...how they gather my toes together in a sling of warmth... and slide across the laminate floor like woolen ice skates.

I love the simple pleasure of a sharp pencil. The way the lead comes to a fine point...its graphite tip leaving perfect lines of script on white paper...of its rubber eraser, pink with the power of eradication. Of how a group of them in a tin can, blossom like a graceful sculpture of yellow spikes.

I love the simple pleasure of a bologna sandwich. The white bread- soft as cotton and almost damp to the touch - and even its biscuit-colored crust, tender enough to eat alone. The thick slice of fragrant bologna- a hint of garlic- the tang of mustard- the way it is cut into a perfect set of triangles and laid upon a stiff, white paper plate.

My life is a quilt of simple pleasures that warms my heart.
Take the time today to find yours.

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If I don't post for a few days, it may mean that the ice storm has wreaked havoc on all types of communication here in Southern Illinois. Hopefully it won't be as bad as predicted, and I'll be back after it all melts and things are working again!
Be safe.
Stay warm.

And indulge in simple pleasures...