1. I like trees. I have always liked trees. I was just standing outside on my break. It’s still morning and already hot in Los Angeles. I chose to stand under the tree. Its shade kept my delicate pasty Nordic skin from frying in the sun. A slight breeze and a squirrel who calls that tree home rustled the leaves.
2. I like that I can tell you everything. I can and have revealed my deepest, darkest, hidden past on this blog and none of you judge me. You don’t condemn me. You cheer me on. You share your own stories of hardship. You understand. I feel like I can say anything here and that is amazing.
3. I love the dog park. Since I moved, I take my dog there every day because it’s still the only place she will poop. I talk to people. I’ve made some friends there, canine and human. I get to pet a thousand different dogs. It makes me feel like Snow White in the forest.
4. I like my gigantic new-to-me California king size bed that Male left. While he was still here, I would climb into his gigantic bed and sleep. I said it was like being gently cradled in the palm of a friendly giant. It was the only place in the world that I could just close my eyes and sleep. Now, I realize that a lot of that had to do with feeling safe around Male, and not the bed itself. Still, at 6 feet wide and 7 feet long, it’s large enough to fit 18 pounds of cat, 60 pounds of dog and me without having this problem that I discussed in Anatomy Of A Night’s Sleep:
5. I like my new enormous bathroom. My new bathroom is over half the size of my old bedroom. Not including the bathtub, it is 10 feet long. I don’t know how wide a standard bathtub is, but I assume it’s at least two feet, which means I have 12 feet of bathroom. I put two area rugs–not bathroom rugs, but area rugs–and they both fit with room to spare. It’s so big that it has two light switches, one for each end. I don’t know what the builders were thinking when they made such a large bathroom and I’m not sure who needs a bathroom that big, but I’ll take it. It makes me feel like royalty. I haven’t taken a bubble bath yet, but when I do, it will have to be accompanied by a string quartet.
Buckingham Palace.
6. I like it when neighbors say hello. I live in a massive, impersonal city. I just moved from one part of the city to another part. I stand outside trying to get my dog to relieve herself every morning and evening. People with children and dogs walk by. Some of them say good morning. I am always pleasantly taken aback by their unsolicited greetings, and it takes me a second to kick my perkiness into gear and wish them a splendid day in return.
7. I like making a joke that sticks. For example, there’s a guy who goes to the dog park with a year old dog named Carter. Carter is a pretty good dog, but he had a habit early on of grabbing onto dog’s necks when playing. This is not a good habit. His owner tried to break him of this habit by screaming CARTER NO at him every 5 seconds. He still does this even though Carter has broken himself of this habit. I called Carter’s owner the Dog Whisperer one day specifically because he is the antithesis of whispering and getting dogs to do what you want. A few days later, I wondered aloud whether Carter actually thinks his name is Carterno. So, now whenever screamy guy shows up, the people at the dog park say The Dog Whisperer is here with Carterno.
8. I like libraries. I just moved near a main branch library for the city I live in. Before, I lived a block away from an offshoot branch that hardly had anything; I usually had to order books from the main branch. It’s bigger and older, so it has a way more library feel than the rinky-dink branch I’m used to. I love libraries. I love the smell of books. I like the sound of fingers typing on keyboards, pages turning, the occasional throat clearing and the hushed voices at the checkout counter. I love row upon row of words put together into sentences I haven’t read before. I love that every time I go into a library, I have to make a very tough decision as to which book I want to read now. I love that I am lucky enough to even get to make that choice.
9. I like thrift store shopping. I moved from a tiny room to a large one, so I’ve been in need of furniture. Every week, I’ve made the rounds of the local thrift stores looking for television stands and coffee tables. I have found both. For less than $100, I’ve furnished a living room, bedroom and bathroom with furniture nobody wanted. I’ve sanded and painted and put on new fixtures. I’ve given new life to old furniture. I’ve given purpose to useless objects all thanks to the thrift store.
10. I like finishing things. I’m normally bad at that. I’ve been lazy about unpacking lately. This week, I forced myself to get rid of all the boxes in my living room. I slowly went through box after box and emptied them all. Yay me! Next week, it’s the closet. Sigh.
More Things I Like:
Fish Of Gold 