Sunday, June 28, 2009

Continuous Small Treats

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.
Iris Murdoch

A few months ago my friend Angela (who writes the wonderful blog My Year Without Spending) shared the above quote and it's one of my favorites. I try to go through my days living its truth, but sometimes life is so full of other things that I have to make plans for such treats.

So far this summer our days have been replete with many quotidian joys: fresh-cut grass, line- dried sheets (which of the two offers the most quintessential smell of summer?), Coronas with lime wedges, pulp fiction (the rest of the year is reserved for Edith Wharton, Ian McEwan and Haruki Murakami, but summer is all about Janet Evanovich), thunderstorms, dining al fresco with food I harvested from our very own garden, all local fruit - and that's just naming a few.

I'm not planning any of them and still they show up with magical effortlessness.

Last night after dinner we played soccer in the street, made ice cream cones and ate them while we took a walk in our neighborhood - which turned into a game of tag and a dance with fireflies. The walk (and sticky fingers, chins and legs from melted ice cream!) led to a bath - which turned into a tickle fest and ended with reading one of our favorite books, Blueberries for Sal.

(Even though we've gotten blueberries from our CSA, the berries from our bushes are still a little green. Every morning we check on them hoping to get a handful before the birds gobble them up.)

This morning we shared our sweet Sunday custom of baking homemade cinnamon buns and eating them on our back deck.






Then we played on the swing set, made castles in the sandbox and traced a friendly cat (who has been visiting us a lot lately) back to his home.

I'll finish this up and then we head to the pool...

This week I'm rejoicing head-over-heels in the continuous small treats of summer.

What are your favorite summer pleasures? Please let me know in the comments section below!

PS: My e-book Rx: Humor! is now available as an immediate download from my website! You can read the latest research related to humor (as well as some of my favorite jokes) and watch a fabulously funny comedy bit (my husband added the hyperlinks) all within minutes! (You don't have to leave any contact information to download it, but I'd love to hear your feedback if you'd like to share!)



4 comments:

Angela said...

As always, we are on the same wavelength. On friday, I started a post called "Non-consumer summer fun" and I'll probably finish it next week. All the simple joys of summer! Wish we had thunderstorms, though. It won't rain until November now- boo hoo.

Please share the cinnamon bun recipe! We both love them, and it would be fun for a summer breakfast....

Jill said...

Summer joys involve driving to the beach. It is a 45 minute drive for us, so the gas is an expense, but the beach is free, so we play all day for next to nothing. And when we want to stay longer, we put up our tent at a nearby campground, and go back to the beach in the morning. The sounds of the boys' laughter as they play with each other (for a change) is intoxicating. Every time I go I can't wait to go back again and again. We return home exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

Stacey said...

Hi Angela! We make the cinnamon buns Saturday night, they rise in the fridge and then we bake them Sunday morning, which makes them seem totally effortless - one of my criteria for a happy Sunday! Here's the recipe:
http://nookandpantry.blogspot.com/2007/09/cinnamon-buns-and-sticky-buns-v-20.html

We make a simple glaze of 2 T cream cheese blended with 2 T milk (we use full fat raw milk)and 1 cup of powdered sugar. So good!

Stacey said...

Hi Jill! Thanks so much for sharing! Last year was the first summer in years that we didn't go to the beach (we're a little over 4 hours away) and I missed it so much that we are definitely going this year - we're renting a house off Charleston, SC in September. I can't wait - you described the delicious mix of laughter, exhilaration and exhaustion perfectly!