Friday, December 04, 2020

Simple Pleasures


 I lived in the semi-tropics for about 20 years, then in the mid 1990's moved with the lower midwest, a part of the country where deciduous trees drop their leaves in the winter. There are trees in the semi-tropics that shed leaves, but not many,  most trees in Florida shed leaves and immediately replace them. When I went to Law School at the University of Louisville, behind the law school between the school of social work and the Speed Museum of Art, was is square lined with oak and maple trees. The first fall I was there, the trees turned color, and seemed to drop most of their leaves overnight, leaving the grassy square carpeted in freshly fallen leaves.  In a break between classes, on a brilliant sunny autumn afternoon, I walked across the middle of the square, kicking the leaves with every long sweeping step.  I smiled for days.  Thinking about it brings a smile to my face. The simple pleasures. 

What memory of a simple pleasure brings a smile to your face.  

15 comments:

  1. on the boardwalk in NJ, eating a taylor pork roll & cheese sammich with french's mustard on a hamburger bun, then getting a kohr brothers frozen custard afterwards. sheer delights from young adulthood.

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    1. Sometime this next year, we will be able to do these things

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  2. Anonymous12/04/2020

    Regarding an earlier post, that is another criteria for an area where I would always want to live, where there are deciduous trees. Kicking through leaves is fun.

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    1. The tropics have different joys, but not leaves.

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  3. The sea air and sand of Rehoboth always does it for me.

    And if you want another memory to add...try laying in the leaves. I did that once. That makes me smile too. Soft cushioning...and i can still smell the fall leaves.

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    1. I miss a long walk on the beach,

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  4. Traveling for 2 hours on a train through Tuscany with my sketchbook in my lap, pencil in hand, and drawing a sleeping child.

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    1. In Tuscany, take the cheap slow train, you will have more time to enjoy the views.

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  5. I think I've said it before, but it was years back while hiking along the Pacific Coast's Bodega Head Trail, I came upon a Great Blue Heron about ten feet in front of me. We started at one another, not moving, for what felt like a good long time, until he, or she, flapped its wings and gently lifted off the ground.
    Such grace.

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    1. The Pacific coast is a magical place.

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  6. That is one of life's simple pleasures and I haven't done it in a long while. Not that many fallen leaves here.

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    1. Flagstaff at the right time of the year.

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  7. Keeping in the mood of this post, I'm going to say the first time we went camping at Palomar Mountain State Park. It was dark out, the kids were asleep (finally) in the tent. Balder and I were sitting at the site table and he whispered (quite sexily, I might add) "Donna, look up". I immediately thought "Do cougars climb trees?". This was the first time I saw stars unobstructed by city lights. It was breathtakingly awesome! The big skunk sauntering thru the site disrupted the moment, but still kind of fit in.

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    Replies
    1. Amazing, and yes big cats climb trees.

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  8. The smell of old books, especially if they bring me back to a house or person

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