Accentuate the Positive

Enough with the injury posts. I’m even bumming myself out. Inspired by the ‘Suggestions’ post by Emz at ‘If I can’t convince you, I’ll at least confuse you’, I thought it was time to take some time and smell the roses (figuratively and literally) and find the things that make me smile. The things that fill the large stretches of life’s road between the inevitable potholes. The things that make me feel like the windshield, rather than the bug. A small sampling:


- Grilled food, and grilling in general. Nothing like cooking on the grill with a cold beverage in hand. Major bonus for the dramatic reduction in cleanup required. Daddy like.

- The beach. Just spent a long weekend there with the family, and there’s something about the coast that gets me centered again. Thrilled to see that my kids are as drawn to the ocean as me. Hopefully we won’t start measuring the ocean in terms of octane rating rather than water-temperature. BP can suck it.

- Landscaping and blooming plants. Have always enjoyed the challenge of working the earth and trying to make new things grow. My wife gives me grief about how crazy beaten-up my hands and arms get in the Spring and Summer while landscaping, but I almost never wear any type of gloves. Need to feel the earth in my hands. Perhaps explains the case of poison ivy I’m finally getting over.

- Ice cream. Big bowl of Breyer’s mint chocolate chip ice cream on a hut summer night. Much love.

- Good customer service. Recently had an issue with the shipping of an Amazon order. Contacted UPS and they couldn’t have been less helpful or friendly. Got off the phone with them and contacted Amazon, and they couldn’t have been more helpful or friendly. Completely erased the UPS bad vibes, and actually made my whole day better. If only this were the norm.

- Random hugs from my kids. Never underestimate the power of a hug.

- Childhood memories. Between the ages of 3-6 my family lived in the Philippines (Navy family). The quantity and variety of creatures and critters there were amazing, especially for a little kid. Once night came around, the critters were even more fascinating. When I took our puppy out one night last week I found the following critter on our front porch. It’s called a Luna moth, and they were everywhere in the Philippines when I was little. The caterpillars are even more spectacular looking. I don’t think I had seen one of these in over 30 years, but just seeing that one reminded me of a great time in my life. Haven’t seen another one since, and may not ever see one again, but it was an unexpected trigger that made me smile.

- Rain in the summertime. Nothing better than running in a cool rain on a hot summer day, but even if I can’t run in it I still like a good storm in the Summer. Also like the song by the Alarm, but not as much as the rain itself. Never listened to the song during a rainstorm in the Summertime. Might overload the awesome circuits.