happy field notes

drawing a chair close to the fire  · the silence of small islands · being a nursemaid on occasion · Heinz Yellow Mustard · a water garden of lilies, Japanese bridges, and lithe willows · soda-pop cans and rings · old-fashioned seltzer bottles · seeing the Royal Ballet perform at Covent Garden in London · tools and engines as extensions of man’s limbs and senses · taking the bus down Main Street  · time off to pursue a passion · tradition-bound peoples solving their economic problems today much as they did 10,000 years or 10,000 centuries ago – adapting to changes in season and climate, hunting and gathering, agriculture, and distributing according to social order · counting calories · the volume of rocks in a mountain range · the tranquility of night · your special recipe book · not getting skin stripes from the lawn chair · Orion’s belt over the roof · recognizing ordinary, everyday activities as opportunities to awaken · window cleaner removing smears and smudges, leaving pure clearness behind · wind rustling new buds · texture paints · peanut butter so sticky you could mortar bricks with it · fountains that make rainbows, even at night · a hot pot of beef and winter vegetables · having family heirlooms appraised · food associated with home, your past, with growing up · three books you would take to the woods · the excitement of watching a storm move in an ever-thickening black line across a lake · mist that swirls and vanishes soon after sunup