Are you a list person? Owing to a raggedy memory at best, my life would be chaos without lists. Therefore of lists I am a big fan. And to those about to list, I salute you!
And whilst previous blogs have a tendency to veer towards a list of ‘everything that happens to be rattling around my head at this very moment in time’ - I’ll try to keep this brief(er).
Riffing on ideas thrown out by kindred spirits Josie Long and Amelie Poulain, have you ever jotted down your most favouritest ever things - ever; things that are absolutely guaranteed to swing your darkest moments around to Happy Hour?
Coming up with a Top 5 is hard going for me, so I’ll cheat and mention a few of those unranked because they would possibly be obvious choices and therefore may be considered the ‘easy option’.
Things like:
Tapping a humorous vein so rich that a friend or family member laughs so heartily that I too start to convulse and we both fall about until hot tears blur vision and the act of laughing actually hurts.
Pitching up at the movies on a weekday afternoon always feels a bit special and naughty. Pepper this with the dawning excitement that you and a chum may possibly be the only patrons that very afternoon - talk about your exclusive screening!…
The swell of the PA to signal the imminent arrival on stage of your favourite band, or the frenzied exuberance of the theatre curtain call as the audience leaps as one to their feet, their heartfelt applause reflected in the beaming faces of the spent cast.
Closing the door on the world come every other Friday evening, having completed the 100-odd mile round trip to collect my children and cherishing every precious moment we’re about to spend together, with the whole weekend laid out before us. And that very first hug upon seeing them after so long, the power of which can melt away the most stubborn fatigue & despair.
And whilst on my favourite people in the world, that waking moment on Christmas morning, hearing the muffled sounds of excited discovery as another festive bounty is beheld.
Oh - and free-wheeling through countryside on my bicycle, imaging the von Trapp children spilling from the scenery to join me in rousing verse.
They are all Top 5 (okay - 6, maybe 7) in their own right and as I say - a cheat that I mention them ahead of - er - my Top 5...
Here for your consideration (and in no particular order) my guaranteed mood busters. I think of these and the world ain’t such a monstrous place:
1. Dipping a wet finger into sherbert, then drawing the residue onto my tongue
2. Having purely by accident happened upon the perfect gift for a loved one and despatched for the sheer joy of it - regardless of any ‘special occasion’ - the mind blowing powder keg of anticipation of it’s reception at the perceived time of delivery
3. The joy of having a portal into the mind of a child and its unfurling earnest innocence; one of my favourite examples being when my youngest regarded the billowy white excretions from the industrial chimneys of a sugar refinery and enquired: “Daddy, is that a cloud factory?”
4. Speaking of which, the point of air travel where the urgency of the vessel has peaked and upon levelling out above altocumulus, a fluffy, puffy carpet stretching as far as the eye can comprehend, classical musical playing over headphones, regarding the vista and thinking; “I could totally run across that!” (don‘t try this last bit, it may not be entirely possible)
5. Lastly, the joy that trains elicit in folk. Just think of the Railway Children and how stoked they always were. In fact; true story, to permanently capture the feeling, Jenny Agutter had a full-size railway line constructed at the bottom of her garden, so that six times daily she can bound across her lawn waving her bloomers, beaming like a lunatic with a class A drug habit. How amazing would that be? Although pity those poor professional commuters cursed to end their days suffering a never ending scenery-chewing loop across the Agutter estate…
My particular fave train moment is that jolt of uncertainty where two trains on near converging tracks sidle up all snuggy, teasing, threatening to touch, electricity literally in the air… And you gape and you gasp and you wait and you wonder… And in my mind, one train - having travelled a great distance in great solitude from the North, nudges towards its flirtatious companion, reaches out an unseen finger and chirps; “Tag!” Then races off, the baton finally passed and their playful duty dutifully done.
Now I feel all warm & fuzzy inside.
So, tell me, please do - what will make up your list?
Stay positive.
x
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1. being on a beach and finding another piece of driftwood and wondering on where it came from and enjoying its unique beauty and thinking about where it will fit in my things.
ReplyDelete2. me or him saying something that totally cracks us both up to the extent of hysteria and along the way forgetting what started it.
3. the interplay between me Rollo our cat and him I can talk to the cat in normal tone and mention him (SO) and the cat will stare straight at him and somtimes stand up in front of him - Rollo rules this house
4. My grandaughter has inherited my wit and sarcasm and at 7 can use it wonderfully well and her timing is perfect. one example I was taking her to school and her mum and dad were in the car we dropped her dad at the train station and in conversation I said, "Stephen was a bit quiet" to which Aimee immediately returned, "hangover"
5. Sometimes when I am with my sister we revert to our childhood stupitidy to the extent that once this went on for weeks over something our late mum had said about breaking her glasses and only having one "len" in them and her doing the crossword and putting in Boa Constructor - a snake that builds houses for ever remains a source of laughter