Feb 1, 2019
Forty Things I love
Thank you, Linda Caroll for tagging me on your similarly titled essay. Following your lead, I will include some pictures and a video link or two. My list of ’40 things’ appears in no particular order…it’s basically a stream of consciousness mind dump!
- Hoofers, aka tap dancers. I watched a lot of Shirley Temple movies when I was a kid. Mr. Bojangles (Bill Robinson — no relation, unfortunately; wish I had his talent) just mesmerized me.
Then I discovered the Nicholas brothers , the late and great Gregory Hines and then of course Savon Glover from his fabulous Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk production in NY City (I just had to see it again when it came to Philly) and another performance of his a few years later. Just cannot get enough of tap dancers. Yeah, those white dudes Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire were pretty good, too. These dancers just energize me.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBb9hTyLjfM)
2. The rat-a-tat-tat of woodpeckers in my neighborhood. I can never see them, but their sound is unmistakable.
3. The scent of pine needles wafting through the air. One of our neighbors has a set of about a dozen 60–70 year-old pine trees on the border of her property. There’s always needles on the ground around the base of the trunks and on the sidewalk. Walking past this house is a treat to my nose, but gums up the bottom of my shoes.
4. The scent of lavender and lilacs in my garden in the spring
5. Babies, especially when they are smiling broadly
6. My Schwinn exercise bike! Thirty minutes on alternate days is keeping my arthritic knees in great shape — hardly any pain!
7. The sound of children’s laughter.
8. Emails, texts, phone calls and cards from former students. Some students have stayed in touch. It warms my heart when I receive notes, cards, and even dinner invites to play “catch up.” This past year, one of my former students took me out to dinner for my 67th birthday!
9. Lenny Bernstein’s musical compositions, especially West Side Story
10. Piano sonatas, especially Beethoven’s.
11. Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit
12. Stained glass windows
13. Victorian architecture
14. Walking through olive groves in Tuscany!
15. Puppy kisses on my face.
16. Volleyball. While I hardly play anymore, I still have a mean, overhand serve! Don’t take dives to return spikes, however (thank you, arthritic knees).
17. Cannoli
18. GEICO commercials. They’re the only ones that I watch; what a hoot.
19. The monastery where St. Francis of Assisi lived. There’s a very sacred vibe in this spot in Umbria, Italy.
20. Chocolate covered Brazil nuts. YUM.
21. Sourdough bread, crusty Italian bread and French baguettes
22. Cheese, glorious cheese. My all-time favorite cheese shop in The Italian Market neighborhood of Philadelphia is Claudio’s. When you go in the front door, it smells like smelly feet with all of the huge provolone hanging from the ceiling.
23. Montepulciano and Pinot Noir wine
24. Blue Moon beer
25. Hand crafted decorative items and furniture.
26. Antiques
27. Hats!
28. Humility
29. The indomitable spirit of humanity
30. All of the conversations I’ve had online with Medium writers!
31. Japanese gardens
32. Toile wallpaper and fabrics
33. A Maxfield Parish sky in the month of December.
34. My volunteer gigs on Saturday mornings at The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
35. A pair of Mallard ducks that grace us with their presence every spring for a week or so.
36. The lingering scent of rain after a summer storm.
37. Watching feral cats skulking around the neighborhood and our back yard.
38. Peonies, glorious peonies.
39. Generosity
40. Eric Clapton’s guitar playing. He’s the best, simply the best.
I haven’t posted any new material at Medium in over a month — but I have been reading every single day!! [been working on a home improvement project the last five weeks, which finished up this afternoon]. So, I’m especially grateful to Linda Carrol for pushing me to write today!
Now, it’s your turn people (if you haven’t already indulged in this fun endeavor): Elle Fredine,ThunderPuff, James Jordan, Annie Littlewolf, Bridget Webber, Steven Rouach, Stephanie Vader, Robyn Jane Sheppard, Hank Eng, Allan Wing.
