Sunday morning. The landscape is still covered with a thin layer of the snow that fell earlier last week. A band of gold decorates the horizon, a bright barrier between the distance and the gray fluffy clouds above. This mixture places a tint of pink in the sky. Soft piano music plays on my computer as I sit down to write. A new day has started.
A few weeks ago, inspired by Julie Andrew’s song Favorite Things from the movie Sound of Music, I started writing down a list of some of my favorite things. There may be nothing special about the items themselves, but how they make me feel and how they enrich my life is everything.
Bella Grace
I found this magazine one day while browsing the many magazines at Barnes and Noble and was hooked. It comes out every quarter and when I read it I feel like I’m spending time with a good friend. The back of the magazine says this: ” We believe an ordinary life can be extraordinary, there is beauty in imperfection, and that magic can be found in the everyday.” The readers are also the writers, and I love to read where everyone is from. It seems that several live in the stormy shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which has made me so curious about that location. Maybe one day I’ll move there to become a full time writer.
Teeccino
One day I was walking the aisles of Huckleberry’s in Spokane, WA when I saw this interesting tea on the bottom shelf. I brought home a box of Coconut Dandelion tea and it was love at first sip. Add a little bit of maple syrup and plant milk and I instantly stop on my tracks to enjoy the hot drink. It’s so good! The website for Teeccino says this about the ingredients. “Teeccino’s ingredients consist of a blend of naturally caffeine-free herbs, roots, fruits and nuts that are roasted and ground to brew and taste like coffee.” There are several flavors available, and I haven’t been brave yet to try the ones with mushroom, but Dandelion Coconut, French Roast, and now Snickerdoodle are my favorite!
ADRA Catalog
There is something about browsing through a catalog and finding things I would like to have. It could be clothing, furniture, packets of seeds when I’m planning a garden, or outdoor gear for my escapades to the forests and mountains. The ADRA gift catalog though is different. Even though the gift is for me, it really is not for me. What I mean is that it doesn’t have anything for me to acquire for myself. Everything is for someone else. I can, in someone else’s name, help someone have access to clean water or plant vegetable gardens. I can help supply emergency kits or even an emergency shelter after disaster strikes. I can have a part in helping an orphan child get a loving home, or help kids catch up in school. In a world so polluted by consumerism, this gift catalog is a breath of fresh air. You can find it online here: https://giftcatalog.adra.org/gift-catalog/
Lavender
Pretty much anything lavender. There is something about its scent that is so calming. A few years ago a friend gave me a small bouquet of lavender wrapped in pretty light purple ribbon. A small squeeze of the bouquet and I feel like I’m walking in a lavender farm surrounded by purple and white flowers and friendly honey bees.
Gordon Hempton Sound Tracks
Gordon Hempton is an acoustic ecologist and has spent years recording vanishing nature sounds. He has a youtube channel and I love to put headphones on and have the sounds of nature he has captured over the years play while I read. He has also tried finding the last place on earth without any sound pollution. What a great project! I remember the joy I experienced when at my new home in the Alaskan forest and couldn’t hear a single sound. Quiet is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and in our world of noise how wonderful to find silence. You can find his youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClrCnhCBO6TohIV1CSJTWlw or check his website here: https://soundtracker.com/
This Outside Life
I have read this book several times and I love to give it away. The author, Laurie Kehler, is an outdoor enthusiast and a follower of God. She shares her stories and adventures in nature as she learns about the God who is Love. She blends her love for God and nature so beautifully in this book, and makes me want to go outside and explore even more the beautiful world God has created for us. You can purchase the book on Amazon or go the author’s website: https://www.lauriekehler.com/books
Finding favorite things can be so much fun. I know I could add so much more to this list: playing games with my guys, driving around the neighborhood during Christmas to look at the houses decorated with lights, watching the sunrise and sunset, soft conversations around a campfire, having lunch with my husband, birdwatching, sleeping in a small ocean front cabin north of Seattle, conversations with seals, watching the northern lights, my little house in Alaska, and so much more.
What are some of your favorite things?
