I have missed the first few weeks, months of Memoir Monday because of life but I thought I'd jump in this week with this prompt
What simple pleasures of life do you truly enjoy?
Sounds like a simple one that should come really easy but somehow sometimes what seems simple is in reality the hardest.
We, hubby and I, say fairly often how it is the simple things in life that we enjoy most. We don't own a huge house or land and our cars are sixteen and twenty two years old and we bought them used when we got to the US in 2011. They're still running well, although our workhorse may have to be replaced rather sooner than later. When that time comes we will surely get something similar - reliable and big enough to carry our windsurfing gear and bicycles and it will be a used car.
Warning: Rant incoming!
OMG new cars - how I hate all that electronic crap in today's new cars. When we were on the Azores we rented a car to get around the island. The car was nothing fancy or big, gosh, you do not want to have a big car there! It drove well and gas mileage seemed to be good, however, there were times when it drove me nuts! Two things that would have to be disabled if I were to get a new car with these fancy features:
Proximity sensors all around the car. They were constantly beeping because roads were so narrow that walls, people, grass, just stuff was oftentimes very close which meant - beep beep beep or its turbo version of beeeeeep when it got really close.
The other thing is the car's recommendation to shift into higher gear - OMG - I was going uphill but coasting for a sec so the car recommended to shift from 4th into 5th or even 6th gear. No, car. You're going to be dawdling in 4th until it is time that 'you need to get into gear' to get up this hill and then I'll actually have to shift into 3rd so that you'll make it. This was nuts, what the hell?! During the week that we drove the car I learnt to ignore it, it was just silly.
Sorry for the side-tracked rant and back to the topic - simple pleasures.
Another thing is food or going out for food. While we do enjoy the occasional outing and go to a restaurant, the places we return to are usually comfort places that serve really good food, not high-end places and not chain restaurants. But my point is, we are rarely eating out because we'd rather have home cooked meals and we enjoy preparing these together in the kitchen. Even for lunch when my co-workers go to a cafe or order doordash or something I usually enjoy left-overs from the previous night or a salad I made in the morning. It sure has gotten a lot more expensive but you just can't beat
Simple but good and healthy food.
On weekends I usually get up at normal times while hubby sleeps in. That means that the house is really quiet and I will enjoy the first cup of coffee, if the weather agrees, on the balcony. Just listening to the leaves rustling in the wind or the whirring of our neighbor's aircon - LOL.
I enjoy a quiet house or moment.
I am actually known to have gotten grumpy when hubby dared to get up early and disrupt my quiet hour - LOL.
Similarly, during weeknights I like to enjoy a cold martini (home mixed) on the balcony. During Covid we called it my drive home time. Since like everyone else I worked from home, I didn't have to commute and my work tends to be a bit stressful, so I always used this half an hour or so to wind down and let the stress melt away. I still like doing this drive home after the pandemic.
This segues nicely into another simple pleasure -
Watching a sunrise or sunset
Preferrably at the ocean, on the beach. I am already looking forward to October when we'll be going to the Outer Banks for our annual windsurfing / beach trip. During the early morning, especially in October, the beach is nice and empty, very quiet and all you hear is the wind and the ocean. And the occasional seagull. What a bliss!
Travel
I am not sure if this qualifies as simple pleasure but - travel in general. I am very grateful that I have been able to travel as much as I have and still do. And by that I mean the fact that we are able to do these travels. We are not rich by any monetary means but we have seen and enjoyed a lot of different places in our lives. I am working hard for our ability to do this and we are enjoying it immensely. There are still so many places I'd like to see, the world is big and I hope I will get to experience a few more countries and places I haven't seen yet.
And this I think shall do for my first memoir Monday post on simple pleasures.
Till next time!
Have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
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99.9% of photos taken with my Fuji X-T5 and iPhone