Twenty years ago, I stumbled upon a new book called 14,000 Things to Be Happy About by Barbara Ann Kipfer. My friend Jon & I (at the time sophomores in high school), excitedly started keeping our own book of lists. We wrote down things that made us happy & keeping these books was among the happiest of all. My little book traveled with me everywhere & was added to day by day, year by year. While over the past 4 or 5 years, I have neglected this book, all of my journals contain random "happy lists." Something triggered my memory of my book this afternoon & I ran to dig it out of the drawer that it's lived in for the past 10 years.
I regret that I didn't keep the book in chronological order and made no date of the entries, but many are telling on their own, whether by the bubbly teenage-writing or by the content itself that stirs up specific memories.
I thought I would share a few of my favorites I came across as I flipped thru the pages:
The color of Ginger Ale
Folding corners of pages to mark the place instead of bookmarks
The flat wooden "spoons" that come with ice cream cups
Candy lipstick
Steam of coffee in the foreground of morning sunlight
Making it to an 8am class before attendance is called.
Getting an email from a friend off campus
A pantry with lots of junk-food
The cool underside of a pillow
Yugoslavia
Homemade donuts
Hard cider and Mushrooms in garlic butter with bread
In the dark, trying to see wintergreen lifesavers spark when crunched
A&W rootbeer floats
Sipping white wine out of a thermos in the laundrymat
Gas for $0.98
Midnight picnics by the river
Getting a care package while staying in a motel
Eating grilled fish with your fingers
Faxes to & from Japan
Beaver logs
Wrapping gifts in maps
Blanket tents
Getting to be Senior class secretary
Sending aerograms
Drive-thru car wash
The sound of rain on the roof, windows or skylight
The smell of Play-doh
Flying on overcast days
Being so tan your arm hair is blonde
Jasmine tea
Snow picnics
