Got home from the grocery store, unpacked and put everything away, everything is nice and neat and clean (did the dishes and took out the garbage before I left), and I have lots and lots of food. I remember the days when all I had was oatmeal, Creamettes macaroni (elbows) and a half-dozen or more packets of ramen noodle soup, because it was ALL I COULD AFFORD.
But now I have real food (green grapes and fresh strawberries and salad greens and crackers and cereal and a freezer full of dinners, and peanuts and dried pineapple and tuna and Luna bars and spaghetti and spaghetti sauce and apple juice and milk and more) and it is all put away. Ahhh.
So all that fancy food you bought is making you sentimental for the simple pleasures of oatmeal, macaroni & ramen noodles – is that what you’re saying?
Some of my simple pleasures are coffee, popcorn, diet cola, going for a walk, going for a bike ride, going for a drive, lunch at Wendy’s, going to the mall, surfing the net, following local/national/world current events, TV/radio talk shows, small home improvements…I guess there are quite a few. Thankfully, one doesn’t have to be wealthy to enjoy a lot of things.
My favorite enjoyment used to be my evening cup of half expresso half milk dash of splenda. Unfortunately now with my cardiac issues, no caffeine ever for me. I detest decaf, it tastes like shit.
Like the OP, my refrigerator is filled with good stuff, and in the basement I have a food locker, a refrigerator-sized freezer and a month’s supply of cat food. But I remember the days when I took rolls of pennies to the store, to pay for cat food, and I had to scrounge around the kitchen for something to eat.
Another “simple pleasure” is central air conditioning. It wasn’t long ago when I’d be sweating day and night, and unable to sleep, even with a fan on me.
My simple pleasure is sitting in my sky chair on a warm summer evening, sipping a drink as the sun sets. The chair is hanging from an enormous maple in the front yard with such dense foliage that even in a light rain, I stay dry. Right about the time I’m dozing off, and watching the bats flit around, my gf gets home from work. I and the dogs wake up and head indoors. It don’t get much simpler.
For me, my simple pleasure is drinking a cup of coffee in a quiet, empty house. Ideally it’d be clean, too, but right now that’s just a pipe dream. My current status is not too cluttered and sanitary, so I guess that’s a simple pleasure, too (when our son was first born, the place looked like a health hazard).
I just got back from vacation, and a couple of things came back to me.
Not so much being at the beach (which I love), but getting in a car or a bus afterwards, skin encrusted in sunblock and salt, and dozing off lightly while the breeze from an open window cools me down. Even better: Getting back to my hotel, showering, and then enjoying being clean and naked on a freshly made (not by me) bed.
At home during the winter: 4pm on Saturday, kicking back with a cup of something hot and watching a movie.
Sitting all alone in my nice, clean quiet house with a good cup of french roast coffee and a novel to read, preferably at around 5:30-7:00 am before anyone else in the neighborhood is stirring.
Walking barefoot in the grass. In the summer, whenever I’m crossing a field, I take my sandals off, and I walk in the grass beside a sidewalk instead of on the walk itself.
I have lived in many, many apartments over the years. Now that I live in a house, it’s such a pleasure not to have noisy neighbors . . . especially living above me. It’s wonderful not to know what kind of music my neighbors play.
And when I lived in NYC, of course I didn’t have a car. So when I went to the supermarket I was limited by how much I could carry. Now, it’s such a pleasure to drive to the store and buy as much as I want.
And the best simple pleasure of all: watching my partner and my kitties sleep, especially when the three of them are all curled up together.
Spending time with The Nephews. Being adopted by a little kid in the train (gives the kid’s mother a break, too).
Having my work acknowledged, specially when it’s unexpected (like one of my brothers saying “I recently realized how much did you help me when I was little: thank you, Big Sis” :meltdown: )
Pasta al dente.
Being in my house, all bundled up in a thick jumper, watching the snow fall outside.
My husband and I have recently started playing the Munchkin card game several times a week. We scream “You RAT!!!” and similar things at each other, but it’s all in fun. And it’s usually my husband who wants to play…I generally have to whine and beg to have him play a game with me, but with Munchkin, he enjoys the game. Except when he draws some of the better curses face up. If you draw a card face up, it affects YOU. If you draw it face down, you put it in your hand, to play whenever you feel would be most interesting.
My husband will actually TURN OFF THE TV and suggest a game of Munchkin. This is surely a sign that the world is coming to an end. But that’s OK, because we have the Chainsaws of Dismemberment as weapons.
Lying by the pool on my day off, with a glass of something ice-cold, fizzy and preferably involving booze, my hair up, sunglasses in place, and the sun on my skin.
A stack of new books and the joy of having to pick which one to go for first.
Curling up on the sofa when everything is freshly cleaned and the carpet is freshly vacuumed and I can just sit back and admire my handiwork and how cute our apartment is.
Orange Slice Zero. Ice cold, straight from the can.
Hot fresh bread with a slice of cheese.
The sight of my catsharks when they’re curled up in fuzzy balls, looking supremely content and decorative.
This thread makes me want all of the above. Right now.
I was all set to post about getting home on those nights when the house is empty and, after getting some dishes done, sitting on the back patio with a cold glass of white wine & listening to the crickets of August complain about the impending end of Summer to a disinterested sun and a slowly changing sky.
