Simple Ordinary Things

When I was in hospital recently, celebrating my 89th birthday, I realised that for nearly 30 years I`d been privileged to be able to appreciate the simple ordinary things .....Before my retiremt at 59, from working for the always necessary dollar, like everyone else, my thoughts were focussed on my wife Marge, on our work and caring for our family. But then I began to think about the simple ordinary things of life.

 

 Things like food, drink, warmth, family love, family celebrations, sunshine, rain. Things like the first hot steaming cup of coffee in the morning, relaxing in the sunshine when it arrives to duly disperse the chilly, foggy mornings of winter; before that, the avidly absorbing, gentle changes of colur of the leaves at a ofutumn; Like sitting down to a delectable dinner in front  of an open fire and afterwards precisely penning together selections of wonderful (occasionally wise ) words.....

 

Simple things like the dramatic diversity of the sometimes sparkling shapes and captivating colours of fragrant flowers and the tempting taste of the first nectarines of the season; like enjoying a drink with a favoured old friend; like conversation around the dinner table, sometimes funny, sometimes deep and touching; sometimes stimulatinmg and infinitely inspiring. I think these thoughts come to one more easily with the onset of ageing.... I am aware I seem to be taking more time, doing things more slowly, counting my blessings more, often really listening to what people are saying and discussing their problems with those obviously seeking some help.

 

I discussed these ideas with an old friend not long ago and strangely enough he had found himself thinking along the same lines. In his own words, "I feel like someone who`s been told I`ve got 6 months to live - like a blind person who can suddenly see!" I suppose it`s something about hope, the eternal spirit you discover in all good people and in all simple and good happenings....

 

Have you ever experienced the exquisite satisfaction you get when you suddenly get an infuriating itch high up on  your back and the only way you can remove it it is with the help of a long-handled wire hair-brush -  and the rapturous relief felt when you`re in a strange locality and the need for a toilet becomes an urgency.............and you suddenly find one!

 

And at the end of the day, the welcoming warmth of the electric blanket if you sleep alone and if you don`t sleep alone - after pumping up the pillow and pulling up the covers, you put your arm around your loved one and then s -l -o-w -l -y slip into a sound sleep.........these are a few simple ordinary things!

 

 

                               `till next time, in about 7 - 10 days...