Simple pleasures?

[Ultralight]

Hey all! Today I was enjoying a bowl of grape nuts cereal with milk and banana slices. Delicious! I eat this for breakfast or lunch or dinner. :)

I found myself thinking (in the words of Kurt Vonnegut): "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is!"

So one of my simple pleasures is grape nuts with bananas and milk.

Another simple pleasure is reading a sci-fi novel.

I'll throw out another of my simple pleasures -- just lounging around with my dog.


Anyone else have simple pleasures they'd like to talk about and share?

[rosarugosa]

A walk in the woods
A cup of Darjeeling with lemon
A good book
A purring cat
Concord grapes

[Yppej]

Lately:

Sunlight
Fall foliage
Eye candy
Jewels switch
DSW coupon
Sense of solidarity amongst coworkers
My son opening the door for me each day when I arrive laden with my lunch box, jacket and other stuff
Anne Lamott's books, which help remind me of simple pleasures

[goldensmom]

My #1 simple pleasure is watching my dogs play. My #2 simple pleasure is sitting with my husband in the evening looking out over our fields as crops grow then again after they are harvested at the end of the season. Thought of another, watching a mama and her deer babies (triplets this year) mosey into and around in the orchards. I guess watching things are my simple pleasures.

[catherine]

Thanks for posting this today. I've had a very rough, tiring couple of weeks, but it's starting to slow down now. You know that saying, if psychologically you're not feeling in the best place you should do the HALT test? Am I Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired? I was all four all this week. I didn't eat at all two days this week, and got VERY little sleep--in fact I went 38 hours without any sleep at all. I was angry at my self for taking on these two particular projects at once because they were a VERY hard fit to get done at the same time, and I was lonely--I crossed the country twice and went to six different cities. Not only that, but I submitted two invoices six weeks ago, and when I went to find out where payment was, I found out they hadn't even been submitted yet! So now they have to go through the system, and I have to go into my emergency fund to pay for living expenses AND last minute house repairs that our buyers are asking us for.

So that's my "unsimple non-pleasure" set-up. I really, really need to spend time today focusing on the simple pleasures.

A simple pleasure so far today has been walking my dog in light rain, making myself two eggs from my favorite local free-range place (one egg was TINY and one egg was HUGE in the same carton--no assembly line to sort them out by egg size). Now I'm in my routine, with a cup of coffee, and the indulgence of maybe 30 minutes online before I get back to work. Dog is at my feet as always.

I'll start there.

[Ultralight]

Fun and interesting lists of simple pleasures! Keep'em coming. :)

I wanted to add another one. When I was a kid I'd take a lawn chair or blanket out into the back yard. I'd kick way back or lay down and just gaze up at the stars.

I especially liked this on the very crisp, cool nights of autumn. Lately I have been wanting to do this again...

[Rogar]

A hike in the foothills
Hanging clothes on the clothes line
Bicycling the local nature trails
Organizing firewood for winter
Gardening and eating fresh garden produce
Reading a good book next to the fireplace insert on a winter night (or any other night) with a mildly alcoholic beverage
Preparing dinner for special company
Bird watching

[SteveinMN]

A good cup of coffee (with the time to enjoy it)
Watching a bonfire/fire pit fire
Parallel parking properly in one go
Looking at (and, ideally, smelling) a nicely-decorated Christmas tree
Seeing a dialog box on my computer state "Backup complete!"

[Float On]

Early morning coffee on the back porch watching the birds come in for their first meal of the day.
I've been tracking how many monarch butterflies I've seen daily in their fall migration.
I find a lot of simple pleasure in moving rocks...I've always been fascinated by rocks and have collected them. I have display bowls of them around the house and can often be found holding a rock or two to ground myself while I breathe and meditate.

[Teacher Terry]

By far my dogs have been my favorite simple pleasure. I love to watch them play, take them for walks and just hold them while I read or watch TV. I also love to walk them and fall is my favorite time of the year with the crisp air and the leaves changing. Now that I am semi-retired I start everyday reading the paper while drinking coffee with my 2 small dogs dozing on my lap. Never any reason to rush in the morning everyday.

[JaneV2.0]

All my pleasures are simple--good friends, good food, an engaging book, plenty of free time...

[LDAHL]

Scrabble

Old Books

Old Friends

Cheap Laughs

The Smell of Rain on Pavement.

Finding a Letter in the Mailbox. A Real One.

Watching an Odometer Turn Over.

[Ultralight]

Scrabble



Yes!

[Gardnr]

Dinner: sauted 2 cloves sliced garlic. Tossed in 2 chopped heirloom tomatoes from the garden. Saute 5m. Topped with shrimp. Cooked another 4 minutes. Poured over WW spaghetti noodles.

Oh so easy and oh so TASTY:cool:

[Williamsmith]

Remembering my childhood.

Walking with my wife while she talks incessantly....me just nodding

Noodling around on the guitar

Making Applesauce

Glimpsing a bear and her cubs

Taking my mother for a hand dipped cherry vanilla ice cream cone

The smell of freshly ground hazelnut coffee beans

Sinking a 30 foot putt

Complete silence

Making friends with a strange dog

Paying with cash

Going shopping and not meeting anyone I know

A generous tumbler of Makers Mark

Caressing a real hard bound book

The tug of a brook trout on a hookless barb....one I know I am going to release

Making things out of cumulus clouds

Using a store coupon

Sending an anonymous gift

Hugging my granddaughter

Did, I say, hugging my granddaughter?

[Williamsmith]

I had to add this song and video by John Lennon. I just ran into an Assistant District Attorney who asked me what I was doing. I said, “Livin”. You could tell she wasn’t ready for that. Wanted to know how I could walk out on such a successful career. I said I had a premonition that I needed to get out sooner rather than later. It turned out to be right.


https://youtu.be/uVXR2LYeFBI?list=RDuVXR2LYeFBI

[Teacher Terry]

WS: it is wonderful that you still have your Mom. My Mom said to never ignore your intuition or you would be sorry and it sounds like you did just that.

[frugal-one]

I had to add this song and video by John Lennon. I just ran into an Assistant District Attorney who asked me what I was doing. I said, “Livin”. You could tell she wasn’t ready for that. Wanted to know how I could walk out on such a successful career. I said I had a premonition that I needed to get out sooner rather than later. It turned out to be right.


https://youtu.be/uVXR2LYeFBI?list=RDuVXR2LYeFBI

Same here. Very stressful, albeit successful career. People's mouths dropped open when I said I was going to retire. Just received a commendation given to few. I am so thankful to be free!

[SteveinMN]

Have to add to my "simple pleasures" list. While waiting at a traffic light at two main roads here in Saint Paul, we all were watching a bald eagle swooping around the intersection, no more than 100 feet away. It took effort to remember to watch for the light to turn green. Bald eagles are not an uncommon sight here. Watching those majestic birds is a simple pleasure.

[dado potato]

Walking in the midst of fall foliage... especially maple, ash, oak and sumac.

[befree]

Sitting on my covered back porch during a rainstorm, with a cat in my lap, is my perfect moment of happiness. Look how many of the greatest pleausres we've listed here cost little to no money...money can buy things, but not happiness!

[beckyliz]

Working on my paper and fabric crafts. I love working with textures and color.

[JaneV2.0]

Working on my paper and fabric crafts. I love working with textures and color.

Likewise, and I don't do nearly enough of it. If you like texture, you might try incorporating polymer clay elements into your work--it takes textures beautifully. It also makes handsome findings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDE-xLHWKqY