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Writer's pictureChelsea Allen Nichols

Ten Simple Pleasures

1. Sunshine on autumn trees. They look like stained glass windows, gems, fireworks. I have seen this all my life but I still gasp with pleasure every fall.


2. Robin song in the evening.


3. The moment everyone's food gets to the table at a restaurant. We are all starved and everything looks amazing.


4. The last seconds before you reveal your surprise. I'm a surprise person. I love giving surprises, I love getting them. Big or little, any nice surprise is fun to plan for. You work for hours, maybe even days, or weeks to keep this big thing a secret, and finally the moment arrives and you get to say, I have a surprise for you...


5. A hot shower when you are really cold. Your feet are freezing, the tip of your nose is cold to the touch, you've been like this for several hours and now you get to take your shower and warm up. When the hot water hits your skin, all your hair stands up and you are suddenly flooded with wonderful warmth.


6. Perfect pavlova. There are a million things that could go wrong with it. It might be grainy if the sugar doesn't dissolve all the way, it could crack as it bakes, and it might even collapse if your kids jump up and down too much or your husband peeks in and slams the door. You leave it sit overnight in the oven to cool, and with trepidation, you creak open the door in the morning and peep in... it's perfect!


7. Remembering all the lyrics to a song. You and your friends are all having a moment where you are singing together around the campfire when everyone starts to peeter out on that one spot. They all grin sheepishly and look at each other as the song dies away. Some people start to do the la la la improvisation. But somehow the 70% of your brain that stores song lyrics kicks in and you save the day by just continuing to blurt out the words without thinking.


8. Avoiding a sneeze in a serious social setting. You're in a business meeting, you're at church, you're having a serious conversation with your new in-laws, you're brushing your teeth in the airport bathroom. Tickle tickle. That all too familiar I'm going to sneeze feeling comes over you and you hopelessly wiggle your nose, bite your lips, and close your eyes as you hope against hope that it will go away. And it does!


9. Finishing a project. Whether you started it last week or five years ago, there is something extremely gratifying about finishing a project.


10. Getting a seed out of your teeth. When you eat raspberries the one sad thing about them is how a seed always gets stuck in your teeth. Nothing sits properly after that. All your teeth feel crooked and not only is that seed in the back of your mouth, it's very much in the back of your mind as well! After much tongue poking and keeping your teeth slightly apart, it finally pops out, and oh what a relief it is.

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