I wish I could do likewise, and then my list would begin: "Allen, my partner-then-husband of 45 years". Alas, it will soon be 10 years since Allen died, so our partnership only made it to 35 years. Even so, he deserves a mention here, because no list of Things I Love is complete without at least a glance back at Things I Have Loved.
But as they occur to me in the moment, the First 20 Things That I Love (now):
- Living in Australia, not the USA, and feeling in my bones that I'm more Australian than not.
- Being free to live each day as I please and being able to do (or not do) whatever I feel like doing on most days.
- Having my daughter and her family near enough to visit regularly and feeling I'm always welcome when I do visit.
- Daily texts or phone calls with my sister who's on the same wavelength about so many things and knowing we can share our woes as well as joys without being judged.
- The blousy white hydrangea that's flowering right now in my garden, reminding me that Spring has arrived and there'll be weeks of blue hydrangeas to follow.
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- The little brown honeyeaters and double-barred finches I can see from my desk, as they take turns to bathe in the bird bath.
- Rays of afternoon sunshine lighting up the top of the hedge along one side of my yard.
- Being fit enough to maintain my house and garden to a satisfactory standard and, when necessary, being able to afford the services and products I need to keep things ticking over.
- Cooking interesting food - and then eating it - sometimes with friends to share it with.
- Reading good books - especially newly published ones - and sharing this pleasure with....
- ...the lovely people in my book club - their kindness, generosity, intelligence and the fact that none of them are right-wingers or nutbags!
- A nicely cleaned house after I've finished a really good round of housework.
- The wonderful opportunities I've had to do interesting development work in several countries.
- Writing a few good sentences now and then - and sometimes sharing a piece of writing here or elsewhere.
- Visits by family members and old friends - though I only wish more of them were closer and could visit more often.
- All my gardening activities - turning over the vegie patch, planting, composting, pruning, harvesting, repotting, pulling on my Redback boots and just getting dirty and sweaty.
- Knowing I don't have to worry about possible future medical bills or access to medical care because I have access to government-subsidised medical and pharmaceutical services as well as affordable private insurance for extras.
- Being cancer-free 23 years after breast cancer.
- Having nice neighbours who agree we will look out for each other but without being too nosy.
- Having a green outlook over the back fence, with beautiful trees, bushes and an adjacent wetland that I don't have to maintain.
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9 comments:
Oh, that is so lovely to read, Mein Seester. 🧡
I loved this so much!
If I had the energy to write a blog post instead of going to bed right now, the existence of this post would go straight to the top of my list of 20.
So glad you’re back writing again :-)
What a joy to read this! Just yesterday I realized I hadn’t posted anything on my own blog in well over a year (okay—almost two years). Perhaps you shall inspire me to end that dry spell!
I tried to reply to each of the above comments, one at a time, but I discovered that this blog software would not place my reply immediately under the comment I was replying to. Very frustrating - and resulted in my replies not making sense. I don't seem to be able to control this and other formatting issues as easily now as I could years ago. The blog program has 'evolved', but not in the right way. It seems to be less user-friendly.
So please, dear readers, forgive my failure to reply to you individually. But I do appreciate all your kind comments.
I enjoyed reading your blog again. The design and layout has lasted the test of time too.
Thanks Georgie. In fact this (updated) program (Blogspot) is driving me mad. I will continue to try and master it, but may need to switch to one of their newer 'themes' to gain more control. It's a work-in-progress!
I am honored that you mentioned my blog--thank you.
My mother used to bury rusty nails around her hydrangeas to make them blue. I think it probably worked
"the First 20 Things That I Love (now): Living in Australia, not the USA..."
Where in the US are you from? I think it likely that I've had more non-US blog readers than I've had readers from my own country, and that most of those readers were/are from Australia. I have come to find little but pain in America's politics, yet I continue to love my country for the ideals expressed in its founding documents, for its vast size, and for its diversity of beauty and climate. It's just a damn shame that my species is destroying this richness.
If you ever visit the US, I'm in Eugene, Oregon.
Good to hear from you, Snow. I grew up in Massachusetts, went to uni in New Hampshire, then worked for 4 years in NYC before emigrating to Oz. One has to hope that your beautiful country will eventually turn things around and start living up to the high-minded ideals you refer to. (I say 'your' because when I assumed Oz citizenship in 1975, the law required me to renounce my US allegiance. Others in my family - my sister, a niece, even my daughter - have dual citizenship since both countries have since changed their laws.)
Recently after seeing Hamilton during its Australian tour, I read Ron Chernow's magnificent biography of Alexander Hamilton, which was Lin-Manuel Miranda's inspiration for the musical. And it was curiously comforting to me to be reminded that from the beginning of the American experiment there existed massive contradictions among the beliefs and viewpoints of the country's forefathers. It's a miracle that the experiment survived even that first generation, let alone centuries of warring opinions. One can only hope for a miracle - maybe one or two Hamiltonesque polymaths will emerge to lay the groundwork for a second post-Revolution revival! (PS: Hamilton, too, was a migrant!)
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