Simple pleasures, not to be confused with Guilty Pleasures, are those little things in life that make you happy while you’re still dressed (usually) and without having to feel bad or go to Confession. Think upon it to yourselves and ponder what simple, almost innocuous bits of daily mundane life make you smile like an idiot. For some it’s the small of a newborn baby. For some it’s smell of fresh bread baking. But for me, these are the things that tantalize all my senses:
TASTE:
1. Melty butter dripping off a hot Maine lobster tail. Holy crap…heaven on a fork.
2. Deep dark chocolate, and I don’t mean a cheap-ass Wonka bar. I’m talking at least 70% cocoa DARK chocolate, bitter and rich, melting slowly on your tongue and driving straight to your taste buds and into your brain.
3. The first mouthful of a cold beer on a scalding hot day.
4. The sensual decadence of REAL vanilla ice cream.
5. That first sip of hot coffee on a cold day.
SMELL:
1. Fresh cut grass. I dunno why, but it’s one of those summer smells that always makes me smile. It almost smells cool & wet.
2. Cold salt air at the coast. It smells especially good in New England, but sometimes here in South Carolina you can get a whiff of it. I’m not sure if the seaweed is a part of the aroma or not.
3. Wood smoke, especially on a cool day. It just makes me think of a cozy fire, or a campfire in the woods.
4. Sizzling meat on a BBQ grill, mixed with a little BBQ sauce. The smell that invokes instant drool and makes you want to hop the neighbor’s fence & bum a meal.
5. Fresh lemons & peaches. Sure, I look a little weird leaning over a bushel at the store but damn it smells good.
6. Citronella candles. Yeah, I’m a weirdo.
TOUCH:
1. Sliding into fresh cold sheets on a warm night and swishing all about like you’re making snow angels in bed.
2. As much as I HATE to be barefoot, I really like the feeling of warm beach sand on my toes.
3. Lingering decadently in a scalding hot shower, as hot as I can stand it without causing physical damage to my skin.
SIGHT:
1. A full moon over the ocean.
2. Shooting stars
3. A starry sky out away from the city lights. Like way out in the willywags where there’s nothing but dark sky & bright stars.
4. A bright red sunset. Especially if it turns the whole sky orange and pink and red.
5. Watching my dog curl up like a pretzel and sleep.
SOUNDS:
1. Waves crashing on rocks, or really just the surf in general. Puts me to sleep just thinking about it.
2. Bagpipes. There’s nothing like it on earth.
3. The purring of a happy cat. People would purr if they could.
4. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. ‘Nuff said.
5. And no matter how any THOUSANDS of times I hear it, I love to hear Enjoy The Silence by Depeche Mode. It’s my favorite song of all time.
TASTE - I am TOTALLY with you on the buttery lobster- or is it lobstery butter? If you can't tell the difference, you're thinking of the same little slice of heaven that I am.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the coffee, if it's GOOD coffee... it doesn't matter how much trouble I'm having waking up, gackwell house is some nasty scheiße. The same goes for beer. Samuel Adams good. Anheuser Busch bad.
Gooey cheese- like in lasagna, or the solid layer on top of baked ziti... and every once in a while, a cheeseburger (and a good ... and not necessarily in that order.)
SMELL - I can't smell much to begin with, but the smell of microwave popcorn (or theater popcorn) with LOTS of butter. The salt in the air near the ocean. And yes, your cliché, bread baking.
TOUCH - Wind blowing through my hair when I'm riding a bicycle, or walking down the beach on a warm day. The warmth of putting on a shirt right out of the dryer. The feel of somebody giving me a hug, especially if it's unexpected and it's from behind.
SIGHT - The ocean. A full moon over the ocean in a clear sky, a sunrise over the ocean... if it's a sandy beach, the ocean needs to be calm, but if it's a rocky shore (think of Nubble point) it can be rather hypnotic to watch the waves come in and crash against the rocks.
And the sky- especially, like you said, out in east nowhere, where there are no city lights on the horizon, no trees or anything nearby, and you can lay on the ground and think about how fast the world is rotating, and know that there's nothing but gravity to prevent you from flying off into space. (Cue in REM's "You Are The Everything")
SOUNDS - My list is pretty much identical to yours, including my favourite song of all time, which is also Enjoy The Silence... but add Mozart to my list, not instead of Beethoven, but in addition to Beethoven.