I recently finished a book that my friend had given me. The Bookshop on the Corner is about a “literary matchmaker”- a character who can match up just the right book with the right person. I think my friend is one too. Every book that she has suggested has been a page-turner, sneak-in-a-page-while-doing-something-else, up-to-1-am-finishing kind of book. They have been books that spoke to me and whatever situation I was going through at the time. In this latest book, it is just a fun, pleasant ride. In the back of the book, the author has acknowledgement pages as well as a “P.S.”- containing some info about her favorite things. While the list is not in any particular order, it is fun and interesting to read through. Just by reading it I feel as if I have gotten to know her a little.

I thought in honor of The Sound of Music (usually played during the winter months) I would list my favorite things. It actually is an interesting practice because some things that we might have enjoyed while we were younger, we may not now. (Or things we didn’t like when we were younger but have acquired a taste for it as we have aged.) The other night, my husband put on a CD that we had received in the 1980’s. It was definitely 80’s-type electronic music. We both looked at each other and shook our heads. Did we ever like that music?

So, in honor of Jenny Colgan and her P.S insights -“Stuff I like”, here are some things I like or like to do (in no particular order):

The smell of coffee wafting up the stairs first thing in the morning; a bouquet of wild flowers; to have all the family members under one roof (with an exit strategy); to learn something new; a day that incorporates writing, exercise and learning; travel; mornings; the smell when sunlight hits white pine and mixes with salt air; Frasier Fir candles; a good thrift store; an old-fashioned hardware store; the smell of freshly cut lumber; stirring a new bucket of paint; spreading mulch; reading a light mystery- preferably set in an English village; new recipes to try; fresh, farm-table ingredients for said recipes; biking through a new neighborhood; daisies and buttercups; walks along the dunes and beaches; words, a good turn of phrase and the etymology of words; reading dictionaries and thesauruses (not that you would recognize by my limited word choices); BBC documentaries and dramas; otters; hawks; spotting the occasional bald eagle; typewriters; reading the liners of LPs; playing tennis; body surfing in Nantucket Sound; any book by Elizabeth Berg; watching anything about another country’s lifestyle; trains; heated seats in the car; outdoor wood fires; indoor gas fires; sustainable practices; repurposing an item- extra likes if I can use it multiple ways; hanging out freshly washed laundry, bright copper cookware, polished (me being the polisher) silverware and brassware. Whew! And I am just getting started.

What about you? What are your favorite things? Or stuff you like or like to do? I haven’t even covered the types of music or genres of books or specific ways of traveling or games….. The list is endless. Think movies, places, experiences, people, activities, actions, hobbies, music, or books. You can think globally or down to the smallest detail (the iridescent feathers around a pigeon’s neck, for instance).

What is fascinating is that everyone’s list is different and changes. I like hearing what other people enjoy because that expands my horizon and gives me something new to try. In addition, it is always a pleasant surprise when I find someone, who at first glance doesn’t appear to have similar tastes to mine, does. Or someone who I might have known a long time, to discover that we also share something else in common.

So go ahead- sing a few of your favorite things…