Like plenty of other people, I am a list person. Years ago, when “The Book of Lists” was first published, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Bloggers often post lists of things and I recently came across someone’s list of “pet peeves.” Now, we all have things that we find annoying. However, I started thinking about what I’ll call my pet pleasantries. In other words, taking a more optimistic approach, some things that give me a warm glow…
• Birds in my garden
• Competent people
• J. S. Bach
• Hypocrisy being found out
• One-handed catches
• Hearty breakfasts
• Reading Henry Miller, Jorge Luis Borges, and Emily Dickenson
• Spring bulbs emerging
• Hikes
• The relaxation of a cat
• The 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers
• Kurt Gibson pumping his right arm as he rounded second base after hitting the game winning homer in Game One of the 1988 World Series
• Marilyn Monroe in “The Seven Year Itch”
• Tapioca pudding
• Stopping to let a family of mule deer cross the highway
• The way my bed feels when I first climb into it at night
• Trees
• My daughters’ sense of humor
• Good quotations
• The fragrance of flowers & wet flora

Looking back over this list of twenty wonderful things, I realize that most of them don’t cost anything to enjoy. Those that do don’t break even my bank. There’s no jewelry, no car payments, no expensive clothing involved. For a cheapskate like me, expense and pleasure would be antithetical.