photo: Jose R.Lopez
By Caitlin Kelly
A long lazy morning spent lounging in a cozy wool or cashmere bathrobe, preferably one with pockets
Croissants, warm, with raspberry jam
Strong coffee with warm milk
Listening carefully to music — vinyl preferred
More and more birdsong
Daffodils and crocuses and magnolia and forsythia
Longer, brighter days!
Re-watching favorite films over and over, savoring familiar scenes while noticing a new detail almost every time
Going back to sleep
A warm, fluffy duvet
A deep-tissue massage — after a year!
A frigid night studded with stars
A long conversation with someone who knows you very, very well
A new and growing friendship
Mentoring
Gorgeous fresh flowers
I buy a bunch, but break them into separate arrangements. This was $42 at a local florist. Not cheap
but worth it!
The sound of a nearby creek or stream
The clanging of halyards on sailboat masts
The glurg noise of a canoe paddle carving water
A cat purring
Tossing dirty, torn, 20 year old luggage and buying new pieces in anticipation of travel, soon not quite so impossible
Clearing out the garage!
Buying plants for the balcony
The rustling sound of a bicycle coming up behind you
The THOCK of a tennis ball being hit
The THWACK of a well-hit golf ball
Filling the house with hyacinth
Walking along 38th street in Manhattan and suddenly smelling…horses! Visiting the carriage horses’ stable while Duke, a massive specimen, was getting new shoes from the farrier. MAGIC!
Vaccinations!
Broadside 
so many wonderful simple pleasures and all never to take for granted
Caitlin, a very nice list! I have resumed my old habit of deep tissue massages, masked of course. I see a practitioner who works in the physical therapy department of a local medical center. Her massages are 1,000 times better than I’ve gotten anywhere else.
With the weather warming up, I’m again enjoying watching the birds in the 2 bird baths in my backyard. I love to see them splish-splashing around.
Massages are the best!
Nice to have bird baths…Our co-op building has a lot of stupid rules and we are not allowed to even have a bird feeder.