Things I Love

Eagle in Yellowstone (By Barb Petty)

Yesterday I had a kind of negative focus and listed things I didn't like.  Today I am going to try to turn that negative energy into something positive.  Here are a few things in life I love.  They are not in any particular order as that's the way my mind rolls best.

What can I say about the love of my life.  My wife Barbara and I have been married 45+ years and she has helped me achieve most of the goals we set out to achieve.  I just laugh when we get invited to seminars that are aimed to help us be happy in retirement.  How could some young whippersnapper teach Barb anything more about getting to where we are happy?  Barb should teach the seminar. She is the love of my life and the pinnacle of where I want to be.

When you reach the place you are very happy with what you have and are spending more time finding places to store the stuff and not worried about new things.  Sometimes it is tough to get rid of the things you love, but it happens.

For more years than I care to remember, I work up early and used that time to get my mind right with the world.  That included caffeine in the form of hot black coffee.  I live to read the paper first and get to mess it up first.  Not that I hate sharing, I just handled new papers twice every day for a year and there is just something about a new paper.  As a Paperboy, I developed a routine reading the paper that included short stretches of reading.  I start on the funny pages and then the front page.  I don't read the editorials until last because it was hard to read heavily and walk at the same time.  Did I mention that the importance of caffeine to start the day? 

Chocolate anything.  From time to time licorice fits in there but chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce about sums it up. 

Travel.  I have a wanderlust that need to be fulfilled time to time.  I would like to see more mountains but my main travel partner doesn't.  The good news is that she will fly over those places and other than mountains she is a welcome traveler.  The bad news is that I am good for only a certain length of time to be away from the base we have her at Rabbit Run. 

Children.  There is nothing I love more than to spend time with the smiles of children.  To some people the cacophony of children playing is more than they can endure.  Me, I love to watch and smile as children play.  I would also hate to be where children are sick and not smiling.  Oh crap, I was going to stay positive...

Cooking for a group of people.  I have trouble doing little plates of food but can cook up a side of beef or a bunch of chicken with the best of them.  When we went to Morocco, our friends there took us to a cooking school.  Man was I ever in hog heaven to find out the base taste of all that wonderful food. 

San Antonio, Texas.  What more can I say about a place I have gone many times and almost never had a bad time.  From the River walk to the wonderful food in the Mercado I just could wander through that town for a week seeing new things and all the great people.

As an extrovert, I would be remiss to not mention that I love people.  I know that according to the medical establishment talking in front of a group of people is one of the biggest phobias.   For me, that is just the opposite.  Give me a problem and a group of people and I love to chew it up and find solutions.   I think Barbara would rather take a problem home and think about it alone but we both get a lot done.

Music.  I have sung with almost all size groups most of my life.  I sang in a choir all through elementary school and then in High School.  I am right now listening to a Barbershop learning CD and the only reason I am not signing is that Barb was up late so I am being quiet.

Seiko Watches.  Once I found out what a good watch can mean, I have tried to have one of the most dependable watches I could find.  The only weakness in the one I have now is that unless I change it ahead on the months that are not 31 days, I will often be a day or two days behind.  Yes, had Barbara not spilled the beans yesterday It was the 4th all day when it was really the 5th, her birthday.  One of my favorite stories is the time my dad was in the VA and he saw the new Timex Tin man Triathlon watch I had just purchased.  He said he had always wanted one of them.  I just took it off my wrist and gave it to him.  He wanted me to put his watch band on it and I am generally prepared with a pocketknife and did so.  The next day when we were visiting he said, "This watch tells me three things more than I need to know."   Story of my life.

Garmin makes a little device that fits on the dash of your car that tells you where to turn if you don't know.  I have kind of an internal map that tells me where to turn if I have ever been somewhere.  The Garmin is for those time I am on a new adventure.  I highly recommend one for those of you who are not blessed with the navigation gene.

Laughter.  People that don't enjoy a good laugh just don't know what they are missing. 

MUD