What Makes Me Smile?

By Linda Lovely

This month’s theme proved a delight. No research required. All I had to do was close my eyes and think. Thankfully my list appears to be very long. (I could have kept going, but decided I should stop before I bored you. I could have included lots more foods!)

Sure, the list of things that make me frown is lengthy, too. But I’m happy to report that on balance my smiles outnumber my frowns. Here’s a smile list (with some pictures) off the top of my head.  

• Kids—as in baby goats. Want to really laugh? Try goat yoga with a bunch of kids and nannies. 
• Any dessert with chocolate as a primary ingredient.
• A gas fireplace I can turn on with the flip of a switch when I’m chilled.
• My own klutziness, when it doesn’t land me in the hospital.
• Swimming and lazing in the lake right off my dock.
• Plump blueberries and tomatoes grown in our own backyard.
  
• The smell of cookies just out of the oven.
• An alarm clock that doesn’t need to be set.
• Leftovers I can pull from our freezer when I don’t want to cook.
• Reruns of favorite TV sitcoms from yesteryear—Cheers, Frasier, Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Lou Grant for starters.
• Authors who tickle my funny bone—Janet Evanovich, Carl Hiaasen, Susan Isaacs, Dave Barry, Cindy Sample, Robin Weaver…and dozens more.
• Flowers and bushes that bloom despite my criminal neglect.
• My husband, who invents creative, nonsense swearwords when things go awry and there are young’uns listening in.
• Critique partners who make me laugh at my own grammatical boo-boos. 
  

I'm happy for this reminder of all the little things that make life worth living.