We’re not very different from one another…we’re all just people with the same needs, the same desires, the same feelings …
— Harry Bernstein
Winter’s cold blast caused us to hunker down at the Prairie house. Only the ducks were oblivious to the blustering wind and rapidly dropping temperatures. All they noticed was the absence of their sunset feeding. It was too cold to walk wind-swept across the Prairie field to the lake. No amount of clothing could cut that chill.
Animals get used to rhythm, and people do too. I like the same things at the same time every day. Surprises are highly overrated these days. Unless it’s my birthday and I get the shoes I circled in the Sundance catalog. Something like that would be a good surprise otherwise sameness is not a bad thing.
I like our heater staying at a constant temperature or to be able to adjust it at the flick of a knob. I like running water from the faucet when I turn the handle in the sink or the shower. I like the coffee pot dripping at precisely the time I’ve set it to start. I like Sam making my oatmeal in the mornings, the same consistency with a half a banana sliced in. I like lining up the vitamins on the kitchen counter where Sam and I take them at the same time. I like the kittens bounding out of their room each morning. I like that they are happy to see me.
I like it when my washing machine works and the dryer too. I like opening my closet and there are clean clothes to wear; clothes I like and I picked out and I like that so far they still fit. I like my coats and scarves and a choice of boots for cold weather. I like the option of wearing gloves or not.
I like days I can stay home and read books I got at a library book sale. I like it that I can find books I wanted to read and I can pay like a dollar to read them. I liked the “Friends” offered cardboard boxes and a nice young man to carry the books to my car.
I like that a friend told me she reads her favorite books over and over again and she had read “Harry Potter” about five times. I like it so much I thought I’d like to read some of my books over again. I like being the age I am where some books seem new all over again and I like that.
I like that my car starts when I want it to and the heat comes on and the defroster works and the windshield wipers too. I like Sam checking my tires and telling me when I need new ones. I like Sam fixing broken things or moving things for me.
I like living at this place on this planet because there are a lot of things to like.
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