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Friday, May 08, 2009

Let's play tag

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California Girl tagged me (and so did another friend I can't for the life of me remember who, can't find a comment, must have deleted an email - rats! tell me who you are please!), and then I think my mom called me in for bed because it got dark, and she'd heard the crickets chirping. Then the next night we played Combat instead, hiding in the shadows of the brick Methodist Church that looked like a Berlin building at night in black and white, and then the next night it was raining. And anyway, I am always the last one It - too slow to catch anyone in the neighborhood.

So, where were we? Oh yes, I'm 52, and we are playing blogger tag - not neighborhood tag. This tag game is to list six unimportant things that make me happy. Well, as one who has a blog called small the point of which is to note small things and their importance, hope you don't mind if I change that to:

6 little (but still important) things
that make me happy on a daily basis
and I don't know why anyone is interested
although I am interested when other people
post them because I can relate to at least some of them

1. the first thing because it's first in the morning is a cup of coffee with vanilla soy cream in this hand thrown mug by an art school classmate of Lesley's. actually i drink 2 cups. the thought of this gets me out of bed.















2.
a tree named Cosmo on my drive to work. it's very very big.



3. colorful eggs from the coop. in a few months we'll have some darker brown ones from new layers.

















4.
photo of an old Chinaman smoking something on the wall by my dressing table.



5. uni-ball pens. every color. shopping for these at Office Max makes me very happy. i usually spend too much $ on them. i like using orange for underlining text that knocks me out.















and 6. Sarah McLachlan singing "Answer."
there are some days on my drive to work i listen to it several times in a row.





So did that interest you? Why? What small things make you happy?

47 comments:

The Bug said...

Great post! I'm taking cold medicine so I got kind of lost when you were talking about Combat (we used to play Simon Says), but then you brought me right back. Nice.

I don't drink coffee, but grits & eggs will definitely get me out of bed any day!

laura said...

Great mug! I drink a whole pot of coffee every morning--I should treat myself to a special mug!
Love the photo of the smoker. You made me re-look, and thus re-appreciate, a small painting I have hanging just inside my bedroom door: a picture of a sailboat by a workshop friend, Wayne, who died a few years ago. I miss him, and I am so grateful to have one of his paintings.

Bagman and Butler said...

I relate to all of them! Particularly the pen. Pens are very important.

Bob Johnson said...

Ruth awesome post, I love the Cosmo tree, always have since you first posted about it. And it's the little things in life that make it worth living.

Nancy said...

I love that song, too. Soulful, isn't it?

I think we both had coffee as #1. :-)

cathyswatercolors said...

Hi Ruth, the opening passage reminded me of so many dreams I have had. I love that you have Sara M as a favorite,she is one of mine as well. I also love that you have named a tree, it is a cosmo for sure. As for me,I have been in the land of the mourning this past week. My father-in -law passed on. He was a wonderful man and well known in the community for his charity and caring. The support was amazing. So for me the not so small things that I love; are rain at funeral and a tree for shelter,a room full of friends and family with memories to share,a rose filled blessings, and a wine glass full of tears,and finally the stillness of the evening with the clean fresh smell of spring.

Dakota Bear said...

Great post! Love the song.

Akim said...

Love the old man, wonder what he's smoking! By the way it was me that tagged you, and thanks for your kind comments on my blog.

Don said...

You brought back nice memories of being small and playing "Combat" throughout the neighborhood. I was always Vic Morrow with the machine gun, however mine was a baseball bat because I didn't have a real toy gun. (a real toy gun?)

renaye said...

ooh. interesting. i'm happy that nowadays no bloggers tag me!! coz i'm lazy to write it up!

Dutchbaby said...

Isn't it amazing how important that first cup of coffee in the morning is?

As a calligrapher, pens are small and very important. Especially if they have the perfect italic nib. Parker Quink ink contains a solvent that keeps the ink flowing, even when you haven't used the pen for weeks. Then if you have the perfect cotton paper that absorbs the ink just so, without feathering the edges of the letters, that's heaven.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Coffee, french bread, walking with a dog, to feel the fresh air on my skin, to see a bird flying, to remember the name of a person I was looking for.

Delphine said...

Good things Ruth, Coffee, eggs, lovely music, nature-- all is difintely well with your world. I think we all ought to do a blog on 6 unimportant things that make us unhappy haha! I think Akim was the blogger who tagged you, she was one of those who I tagged. Have a good weekend!

Barry said...

Rainy days when I have no where to go, make me happy.

Cutting the lawn makes me happy.

All of the photos I have of my great grandparents show them on opposite sides of their eleven children. So I had an artist friend draw a picture of them together which hangs in my office and makes me happy.

A good book to read makes me very happy indeed.

Danzic drive, a street not far from where I live, in the spring with all its crab apple trees in blossom makes me happy.

Eating solid food again makes me ecstatic. (does ecstatic count?)

Susan said...

Ruthie, everything about you interests me, because I learn something about you when you reveal these small things. I like knowing who my friends are and what makes them tick.

Being friends with you makes me happy!

VaNeSsA said...

OK, can just say a couple of things? 1. I LOVE that you have named one or more trees. There are so many things in the world that either seem or actually are alive, and really, they need names, don't they? 2. I know people say that the white and brown eggs taste the same, but having grown up with Rhode Island Reds who laid brown eggs, I find that the brown taste just a bit more like home. 3. Uni-Balls are THE BEST pens in the entire world, except for writing on envelopes because they run when wet. 4. I used to have a friend who was absolutely in LOVE with Sarah McLachlan, to the point that I was a tiny bit worried about him, but he's married with a daughter now, so he didn't turn into a stalker or anything! (Not that he would be anyway, my goodness he is a nice person and I am sorry that I allowed the drama of writing to insinuate such a thing about him!) But anyway, who can blame him. She is lovely.

I am inspired to get my camera out and about to play this game, when I get a block of time. :)

CottageGirl said...

I love waking up in the morning and looking out the window into our woodland garden, especially after a rainy night.

I love holding a grandchild.

I love my husband's kiss.

Like Barry, I love cutting the lawn.

I love curling up in my overstuffed chair and watching old movies.

I love watching my kids watching their kids.

I love your blog, Ruth!

Anonymous said...

Nice post!

Let's see...

1. Soy fruit smoothies on hot summer morning
2. Sunday mornings spent chatting in bed with my husband.
3. Receiving good morning emails from my husband on my cellphone
4. Colorful summer sunsets over Hachimantai
5. Delicious scrambled eggs on weekend mornings.
6. Eating dinner outside in summer.

These aren't really things, but I don't really have favorite objects here, as I live away from home.

Btw, I've given you a friendship award, come check my blog :)

Ruth said...

The Bug, yes I think that first paragraph went a little too quickly and confusingly.

We played Mother May I and Red Light Green Light too.

Ruth said...

Laura, I take it Wayne was a pipe smoker. Yes, I've been thinking of a pipe-smoking brother who is absent too.

Ruth said...

B & B - Mark, I'm glad you agree. I don't write much with them now, but when I do, I want them to have a certain tip, you know?

Ruth said...

Thank you, Bob, I'm surprised and please you remember Cosmo. Maybe it's the name.

Ruth said...

Lover of Life, first things first.

Yes, "Answer" and "Dirty Little Secret" are my favorites on Afterglow.

Ruth said...

I'm so sorry, Cathy. I hope your memories of him will keep comforting you. I was thinking on the weekend that we need to tell one another the things we love about each other so we don't wait until we die.

Ruth said...

Thank you, Dakota Bear. Sarah is no small thing.

Ruth said...

Phew, thank you, Akim! That was really bugging me not to remember.

Ruth said...

Don, ha. I don't remember having anything in my hands for a weapon. I think it might have been my forefinger. Strange how we had no real concept of killing or being killed, or war.

Ruth said...

I know what you mean, Renaye, it took me a while too.

Hope you're feeling better. Please rest.

Ruth said...

Your description, Dutchbaby, makes me want to go write. I still don't think I have seen any of your calligraphy. I hope you will post it. Let me know if I've missed it and where to find it please.

Ruth said...

Daniel, these things are very good. The last is truly a relief.

Ruth said...

Yes, that would be a good idea too, Delphine, I'll be watching for it.

Yes, thank goodness I know now it was sweet Akim!

Ruth said...

Ecstatic counts, Barry.

Seeing you be done with chemo and recovering will make me very happy.

Ruth said...

Susie, that's so sweet!

You make me happy too.

Ruth said...

Oh thank you for engaging so well with this post, VaNeSsa.

If I could sing, I would sing like Sarah. Her voice is heavenly, and the songs she writes go straight to my heart.

When I saw Oliag's post on this tag with photos, I was inspired too. That's what got me to finally do it.

Ruth said...

Cool, CottageGirl. I plan to curl up on an overstuffed chair this week on vacation too.

Thanks for including my blog on your list. :)

Ruth said...

Those are good, simple things in life, Kanmuri.

Thank you for the nice award!

myonlyphoto said...

Oh Ruth you are so so sweet. Nice to know about things make you happy. Now days everything in my life is making me happy, and you take a guess why? Anna :)

photowannabe said...

Umm, Yummm that first cup of coffee in the morning.
The morning sun filtering through the blinds in my living room.
Hugs and greatlife-stories from my granddaughters.
The little things my Hubby does to make something easier for me.
Blowing bubbles and watching them float and get kissed by the sun.
These are a few of my favorite "little" things.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Why soy cream? Are you allergic to dairy like my daughter. If yes, poor you.

Cheers,

Ann

Ruth said...

A certain one-year-old, Anna?

Ruth said...

Sue, I was thinking about blowing bubbles yesterday. I think I need to get me a bottle.

Ruth said...

No, Ann, thankfully I am not allergic to dairy. I just like the vanilla soy - it's not as sweet as the cream version. And now I'm hooked on it.

shoreacres said...

Six small, daily, happy things...?

~ drinking my first morning coffee with Dixie Rose while I brush her and listen to her purr

~ cold water on hot afternoons

~ the sound of fish jumping at night (worth opening the windows, even with the heat and humidity)

~ the pleasure of physical exhaustion

~ re-reading my own writing

~ Pachelbel's Canon in D

Ruth said...

Linda, those are some good ones: sound of fish jumping! And the pleasure of physical exhaustion - not something I experience often (I mean from hard physical labor), but I know what you mean.

VioletSky said...

This is such a great mood enhancing tag - I felt so much better when I realized I had trouble limiting it to 6!! And I love your colourful eggs... one day, I'll hopefully get to experience them.

Ruth said...

Sanna, you're right, this was a nice one because I too had to narrow a long list of happy things.

Some say they can taste a difference in eggs of a different color. I don't notice it. But there is a huge difference in a farm fresh one from a store bought.

California Girl said...

Hi! I like the way you did this, inviting all readers to share their six things. That was a good twist. I really like your choices accompanied by the photos. Your photography is always a treat, beautifully composed and enhances your writing, also wonderful.

Thank you for letting me know. I know why I didn't catch it...it was the day we left on vacation and I didn't blog while away.

xo CG