POCKETFUL OF PLEASURES

"Ring around the rosies, pocketful of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down". It didn't take too much to make me happy as kid. I liked when the "London Bridge" fell down. Now, I like to listen to "London Rain", by Heather Nova. Speaking from a woman's perspective who use to be a little girl, tea parties and dress up were two endlessly pleasurable activities in which I engaged. I loved putting on my momma's high heels and experimenting with her makeup. Rocking baby dolls, and finding stuffed animals who would listen and who were endlessly sympathetic towards me were two of my favorite past times. I would play "house", and "school". I even had my own school room at the front of the house. I would even pretend to cook using raw spaghetti noodles and French dressing. I made sock puppets out of old socks, yarn, scraps of cloth, construction paper, and old buttons.

Then I was introduced to the great outdoors. I became such a tomboy. I climbed trees, bike raced the boys in my neighborhood, jumped on the trampoline, skated, and turned cartwheels off the diving board. I wasn't much of a dare devil, I often opted for truth when playing "Truth or Dare". When I got a little older "Spin the Bottle" became very appealing to me. I dreamed about my "knight in shining armor" and I always wanted a "hero" to rescue me. I always wanted to be like "Rapunzel" with really long golden and shiny hair. Just because I am all grown up, doesn't mean that those dreams are gone. Sometimes, what has been long lost and forgotten can be found again.

What girl didn't want to be Jennifer Grey in "Dirty Dancing"? "Nobody puts baby in a corner". Sigh. She was such a lucky girl co-starring with Patrick Swayze. He could back me up into a corner anytime. I loved "Saved By the Bell". Zack Morris was the soothest thing since butter. Although, my first crush ever was on Michael J. Fox when he played "Scott Howard" in Teen Wolf and "Alex P. Keaton" on Family Ties. For some reason, I got all caught up in the "New Kids on the Block" craze. Joe McIntyre looked good. He still looks good.

Every summer my friends and I would gather on my carport and pretend that it was a stage. I wanted to be Paula Abdul and Debbie Gibson. I had a canopy bed when I was younger and I would pull off the top knobs and use them for microphones. These days, it is usually a deodorant bottle. Usually, I sing in the car with the windows rolled down with the wind whipping through my hair. I also enjoy singing in the shower because the acoustics sound so good in there.

I am not sure when I developed such a love for reading. I can just lose myself in a good book. I am looking forward to lounging on a chair poolside allowing the heat from the sun to make me lazy as I dive into a mezmorizing novel while I am soaking up the sun this summer. As grown a grown up, I still like to swim like a little fish more than laying out.

Recently, I went to the bookstore to find a book entitled "Burnt Toast" written by Terri Hatcher. For some unknown reason, I wound up in the poetry section of this bookstore. I sat down in the middle of the isle and just began reading and absorbing the string of words. It was almost transcendent. It so relaxed me and rejuvenated my spirit that it left me begging for more. So I bought this book of poetry. "Peyton's Podcast" once said "that the music finds you" maybe poetry does too. I just ordered Jewel's new CD "Goodbye to Alice in Wonderland". She is so poetic. A few days ago, I even got up one morning and wrote a rather lengthy poem in which I am quite proud. Writing a book was definitely a catharsis for my soul and such a sweet release.

I also enjoy being pampered. I believe that a "true princess" lives inside every woman. My "inner princess" comes out often demanding to be pampered. So I take her to the spa for the occasional massage and frequent spa manicures and pedicures. Getting my hair colored has become a rather costly hobby. I don't know for some reason it gives me confidence. I have a few hobbies, but writing is definitely my passion. It gives me immeasurable pleasure. I would like to say that I found the writing, but that wouldn't be the truth. The writing found me just in the nick of time, allowing me to pour out my pent up feelings and bottled emotions.

I also enjoy watching movies and their commentaries. Mostly, I like romantic comedies. I am envious of those thirty minute sitcoms that get wrapped up so nicely. Relationships in real life just don't work that way. I guess that is why I really like watching episodes of "Dawson's Creek" and "One Tree Hill" because they depict relationships in a somewhat realistic way. For me watching those shows, is like indulging in milk chocolate it is "pleasure you can't measure". I also enjoy watching some reality T.V. shows such as "Dancing with the Stars". I love getting a heaping helping of "All My Children and General Hospital" almost on a daily basis. Occasionally, I enjoy watching other T.V. shows which are more like dark chocolate for me I can take them or leave them. Escapism is a beautiful thing and also dangerous because sometimes it is hard to separate the myth from reality.


Those little things that we all do for ourselves whether it's reading those magazines that dish the dirt on those high-profile celebrities, playing the guitar, the drums, piano or any other instrument, laying out by the pool, or sitting out in a boat on the lake alone with your own thoughts, working a crossword puzzle, playing a game of one-on-one, sitting on a wraparound porch with a glass of lemonade watching butterflies fluttering by, exercising to your little heart's content, or playing nine or even eighteen holes of golf, losing yourself in a good book, weaving stories or being pampered at the spa make the biggest difference. We all need an escape route, a place to regain our footing, a place to run in hide when the world gets a little too scary. I still enjoy the simple pleasures in life. And I appreciate them when they come for they have become very far and few between in this world of instant gratification.

Even though I am a grown up, I still enjoy some things that I did as a child because that child still lives within me. When we get older, our ideals change and mature along with us. When I feel drained, riddled with anxiety, or the need to escape for a little while I scatter the things that I love and enjoy around me like pixie dust and pull out my pocketful of pleasures.

I pulled out my little book of poems. I hope that you like my selection. The poet, Katherine Mansfield writes of domestic bliss as being commonplace yet magical. Isn't that what every little girl dreams of having one day? She dreams of having a family to take care of and love. If we are really lucky, we might even find some sparks of romance mingled in for good measure. As SheDaisy says, "God Bless the American Housewife". In the meantime, I will enjoy the freedom of my single status. Even when there is a mound of laundry awaiting us, I hope we can still find time and joy in pulling out are own unique and distinct pocketful of pleasures.

Camomile Tea by Katherine Mansfield

Outside the sky is light with stars;
There's a hollow roaring from the sea.
And, alas! for the little almond flowers,
The wind is shaking the almond tree.

How little I thought, a year ago,
In the horrible cottage upon the Lee
That he and I should be siting so
And sipping a cup of camomile tea.

Light as feathers the witches fly,
The horn of the moon is plain to see;
By a firefly under a jonquil flower
A goblin toasts a bumble-bee.

We might be fifty, we might be five,
So snug, so compact, so wise are we!
Under the kitchen-table leg
My knee is pressing against his knee.

Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,
The tap is dripping peacefully;
The saucepan shadows on the wall
Are black and round and plain to see.