List of Happiness

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