I wrote the first 50 things two years and a great many of them have changed, so I started over!
1. Climbing. Anything. Trees, cliff-sides, really tall people, etc.
2. Polite, considerate children.
3. Walking places.
4. Staircases.
5. My extended family.
6. Roasted chestnuts.
7. Courage.
8. Trees.
9. Good company.
10. Wood floors.
11. Mens clothing.
12. Multiples of four.
13. Old-fashioned speech. (Early 1800’s)
14. Big hands.
15. Big noses.
16. Particular accents. (Russian, South African, etc.)
17. Idling in restaurants and having frequently re-filled teapots.
18. Playing soccer on the beach.
19. Taking bike rides in the early, early morning when all the streets are empty.
20. Juice Squeeze.
21. Being barefoot.
22. My favorite actors. (Neeson, Firth)
23. Driving my uncle’s motorcycle.
24. Axl Rose’s voice.
25. Old photographs.
26. Making fires.
27. Pre-raphaelite paintings.
28. Principal ballet dancers. (Nureyev, Nijinsky, Baryshnikov)
29. The smell of everything after it’s been rained on.
30. Rolling down hills.
31. Finding treasures in thrift stores.
32. Stiff chairs.
33. Untampered with hair.
34. Dream holiday dinners. (Mashed potatoes with unlimited gravy, turkey, stuffing, etc.)
35. Books that don’t let me down. In other words; good books.
36. Singing.
37. Wholesome laughing.
38. Crossing things off lists.
39. Learning new languages.
40. Discussing literature with other similarly well-read, intelligent people.
41. Those times when everything good seems to converge on the same day. Like when I somehow find myself amiable and charming, and I just so happen to be going to a party that day.
42. Collecting collections. (National Geographics, bottle caps, tin toys, etc.)
43. Friendly faces.
44. Starched collars.
45. Watching movies by myself. (Mostly so that I can cry.)
46. Having people listen to me and do what I say when I know I am right and that they will benefit from heeding my advice.
47. The satisfaction of meeting a fairly challenging goal.
48. Learning a great song on the piano.
49. Being all alone and uninhibited.
50. Being one-on-one with people I like.
51. Getting lost in my head.
52. Hiking far away from society all by myself.
53. Rereading Pride & Prejudice every year.
54. Costumes.
55. Conversations with Strangers.
56. Swimming in natural water formations.
57. Old houses.
58. Working in the garden.
59. Shoes.
60. Hunting for particularly rare books.
61. Putting on lipstick.
62. Mr. Darcy.
63. Turning up the heat in my bedroom and waking in the morning early because it is so hot.
64. Putting up new pictures on my walls.
65. Gloves and Mittens.
66. Disney Movies.
67. Kind People.
68. Dancing.
69. Secret histories.
70. Fast internet.
71. Feeling different natural textures.
72. Fresh tomatoes.
73. Surprising people (in a good way!)
74. New bookshelves.
75. Being kissed.
76. Receiving mail.
77. Being smiled at.
78. Eating unskinned, uncut mangoes.
79. Portraits.
80. Water on the skin. Cold, hot, warm; all water.
81. Well-fitting clothes.
82. Long sleeves.
83. Well-made animal documentaries. Especially bird ones like Winged Migration. Preferable not narrated ones too.
84. String instruments, plus the clarinet.
85. When I don’t have to wait at the bus stop more than a minute or two.
86. When people who smell good walk past me. (Perfume irritates me though.)
87. Rose Red, Snow White’s neglected sister.
88. Finding meaningful gifts for people.
89. When I finish assignments and responsibilities well ahead of time.
90. Hard work. (Laying bricks, cleaning gutters, digging ditches, cutting down trees, etc.)
91. Underground metro systems.
92. University of Washington campus.
93. Metropolitan cities that are on the water.
94. The crunchy, middle-part of lettuce leaves.
95. People I can rely on. (Mr. R, Mr. V)
96. Opera. (Verdi especially.)
97. Holding hands with people.
98. How people you love always smell so good.
99. Drinking lots and lots of water.
100. That I finished this list!
