Simple joys of life over the years

Seeing Rittenhouse verdict. A full moon on a clear night. Walking without bugs, humidity, traffic. Sidewalks. Unexpected, good news in the mail. Jane and Gaby coming home for a visit. Fr. Carl. Fr. Jack Shaffer online Mass. Coconut explosion ice cream. Chicago Grill gyros. Chico's fries.

Looser fit of jeans, along with loose-fit jeans. a long, hot shower. Fresh sheets on the bed. A neat, clean kitchen. Being able to buy whatever I want at the grocery store. Good service, be it with UPS, an Apple return, Boomer Benefits, or a helpful waitress.

Feeling accomplished -- before noon. Finding the Penn State - Rutgers game on a BTN overflow Fox website.

A neatly mown lawn. A driveway cleared of snow.

Listening to songs that evoke strong, positive memories, e.g., Tom Rush's 'Urge for going,' Sting's "Fileds of gold,' Steve Wonder's 'As,' Jaques Brel is alive and well songs, etc. There are plenty more but they are most powerful when they come up unexpectedly and set off a memory with remembering, like old girlfriends, memorable movie scenes, a geographic location (e.g., U2 linked to 1985 in the Lake District, 'Royals' in 2014 Edinburgh).

Airline service that provides a safe, smooth, pleasant, on-time experience, especially in first or business class. Free or unexpected upgrades, e.g., to first class on trip back to Lawrence from Las Vegas, moved to business class flying back from Europe on Marquette trip, moved to first class to be with Dena on Chicago flight to UK, free upgrade courtesy of Nan Schmidt for Marquette Chicago to London BA flight, free upgrade to business class with Phil Bartos coming home from Moscow.

A trip where everything goes not only right but also much better than I could have expected or imagined, including family excursion to Loch Ness on Christmas Eve, Gaby's southern California college search trip in spring 2016, London and Tottenham experience in September 2019.

Re-connecting with long-ago or rarely seen friends, like Larry Timm, Kathy Thomas, Scott Rivard, Gary Levine.

A smooth software upgrade experience on my Mac, iPhone or iPad.

A family expedition to find a really nicely formed Christmas tree, originally in Baltimore, now in Appleton.

A good night's sleep.