Years ago, when I was in college, my friends and I had one of those 'what would you do if…' discussions. You know the sort of thing:
(I always wanted more information: how am I going to die? Am
I supposed to know in ADVANCE? So, the
question is What would I do if I knew I were going to die tomorrow - apart from
having a full systems blow of a freak-out episode?)
If you could only go on one date this year, where would you
go, and with whom?
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| Why don't men dress like this any more? |
(You mean no other date for the rest of the year? So this would be my dream date? Does sitting at home and eating rum raisin
ice cream while playing footsie with Keanu Reeves - love the eyes - count? No? Whyever
not?)
Quick! What did you eat for supper last night?
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| Fugu Sashini |
(I hate that question!
I could have cooked a cordon bleu feast for friends using truffles,
vintage Dom Perignon and fugu sashimi and I won't remember after being put on
the spot like that.)
There is one question of those, however, that I always enjoy
answering. This is because, for me, it
expresses the things I find perfectly luscious and celebration-worthy:
- What would you buy
if money was absolutely no object at all?
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| Can you smell the lavender? |
You mean if I could afford ANYTHING?
- Yes.
Oh… Oh, my. Let's see…
1. Every evening,
when I got into bed, it would be to clean cotton sheets - and not too high a
thread count - crisp is the word - that were freshly washed and hung out to dry
in the sun - then ironed. Yes, and three
pillows on the bed. AND a down
comforter, crisp and white.
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| It's the sun that gives the lovely scent... |
2. Clean, brand new
clothes every day. This would be
excepting my jeans, which would be nicely broken in and spotlessly clean.
3. Flowers in every
room. Fragrant ones. Freesia, lavender, sweet old-fashioned roses.
(and visit this blog, which provided this lovely bouquet: http://jeanniesgarden.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-bouquet.html
)
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| Ahhhhhh...... |
4. A view of either
mountains or ocean from every window.
Ideally, it would involve both. I
am not sure where that would be, but nevertheless - if I looked out the window
it would be to see something splendid.
(I lived in a place, once, where every window opened to a view of a
wall. it was terrible.)
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| This is Barbados. I'll take Kauai. |
5. I would own a desk
like that owned by Beauty in Robin McKinley's book Beauty - the first iteration
- when she first comes to The Beast's castle.
Stocked with all sorts of paper and pens.
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| Who needs sugar with these? |
6. And, whatever the
season, fresh, ripe raspberries whenever I wanted them. Or fresh, wild strawberries, so small and
sweet that sugar is not only unnecessary but laughable.
I'll never be that wealthy, mind, but if you think it
through, that list represents many of the things I find worth celebrating. The crisp feel and smell of good paper, smooth,
clean sheets, berries like the ones I picked at my uncle's farm a lifetime
ago. The sweet, almost honey-like smell
of my cat's fur.
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| She does have sweet-smelling fur... |
They are all worth celebrating.
