Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Simple Things.

I've never figured out why people always chuckle when I say that my greatest pleasures in life are the simple pleasures.  After all, that jumbotron sized TV in the family room was my husband's idea. 

Give me a porch swing, a shade tree, and a tall glass of home-brewed iced tea.  Give me that morning coffee from the French press.  There's nothing like the comfort of my own bed after a busy day, and the sweetness of snuggling down into fresh linens.  A child contentedly playing, the friendship of a pet, farmers' market produce, music that puts me in a good mood - all these things I treasure.

But there is one pleasure that tops them all, one that has almost attained the status of a vice: a good read.  I may run low on sleep, dinner may be a bit late, I may go to bed at night leaving laundry forgotten in the dryer, but the book is not neglected.

I'm a sucker for a good yarn.  I love to get inside a character's head, second-guess, and feel my pulse quicken when I know the character has taken an action that will surely bring down an avalanche of trouble upon them.  I like to vicariously fall in love again, make the tough decisions, agonize over the impossible dilemmas.  Lay it on thick, my author friends, I can take it.

Maybe vice is too powerful of a word.  Even though I don't really have that porch swing or shade tree, and even though I seldom bother to make fresh-brewed iced tea, I consider myself to be content.  Day to day reality is embraced, and fortified with that French press coffee, I enjoy my status as mom, homeschooler, wife, tutor, cook, and friend.  I take it all in with gusto... because I know I still have that book waiting for me when a quiet moment comes.

My current read:

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