Not long ago, Neill and I met each other in our little hallway. Neill said "How about a hug?" We both said "Why not, it's free." That got me to thinking about that saying: the best things in life are free.
What are some of these best things? For me, one is walking past someone's garden and seeing beautiful flowers. Not better than hugs, but one of life's little bonuses. Being told you are a cool grandmother, having a cat snuggle close, seeing a rainbow or a beautiful sunset. What would you add to that?
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26 comments:
Hmm. Love of Christ, I suppose.
Breaking wind and not getting caught for it...
That's why a gentleman always opens the car door for the lady. You leave the restaurant, you let the lady into the car, you close her door for her, and while you take that long trip around the back of the car to get to your side...
Ha ha ha how very funny...
Grandma - you are an incredibly cool Grandma.
and now for my list of free amazingly wonderful things
~ Coming home to a clean home after a long day at work
~ getting a love note
~ that first time you can breath out of your nose after weeks of stuffed-up-ness from a cold or allergies
~ getting to the store only to discover the very thing you have been saving up for just went on major sale
Side note - Grandma have you heard about the movment going on recently where rnadom people hold up signs that say "Free Hugs"? Cody hugged some guy on Hollywood Blvd.
And mine...
*Discovering new music that I love (this, however, is not free when you factor in the cost of itunes)
*Having a cool Grandma
*Seeing Karma in action
*Winning races
I love your last item. That must be a great feeling.
Please say more about seeing Karma in action.
And thanks, if I am included in the Grandma comment.
You are my only Grandma, so yes.
It really is a great feeling, especially after working as hard as we do. I think the best part is winning a relay, because it really shows strong teamwork.
Ok, Karma in action...
I really love to see good things happen to people who do good things. It is nice to know that people can be repaid for selfless acts.
Also, and I know this is kind of mean, but it is satisfying to see people who treat others poorly have bad things happen to them in return. Ok, this sounds meaner than I intended it to. For example,
there are very few people that I dislike, and if I dislike someone, I probably have a good reason for it. There is a girl who I go to school with who is a real witch. She treats everyone horribly, and has pretty much alienated herself from almost everyone here. A few weeks ago, I was standing on the back deck of my friends house and she showed up. She was walking from inside the house to the back deck to be with everybody and slammed into the closed sliding glass door in front of about twenty people. Needless to say, everyone was very happy. I couldn't have paid to see something better; therefore, the best things in life are free.
Forgot to add my list of freebies:
Making people laugh. Especially if food or drink comes out their nose.
About once a month I mow my lawn so the stripes are diagonal. I like how it looks when I'm finished.
Snail mail and email from friends and family.
Hugs and kisses from family members. (Which always makes me think of "Hogs and quiches on your birthday." I don't know why)
A top-down drive through the Carolina countryside on a beautiful Spring or Fall morning. (Not exactly free, but close)
Well, AKulka, you made me laugh. It reminds me of a story my brother told me. He and a small group of singles were invited to go to Angel Island on one fellow's sail boat. As they started across, the wind rose. This fellow kept his heading so that the wind was pushing them along at a rapid rate, which caused the boat to tilt more and more strongly toward the water. The young women were really uncomfortable, not being sailors. They asked him to veer off some, but he would not do it.
When they arrived at Angel island, they tied up at the dock. The boat owner was turned, talking to all of them as he walked along the outside edge of his boat. He missed his next step and fell right into the water. Aw, what a shame.
Cody, your comment reminded me of ancient history in my life. During my first pregnancy, I seemed often to find myself needing to rid my body of noxious gases. I was teaching third grade at the time. What to do when the minor emergency arose? The practice which evolved was that when I sensed it to be necessary, I would walk between the children's desks, relying on the children to determine the problem had arisen from one of their number. Thanks for awakening a 54 year old memory. I think.
For those, who wants know more about how the Free Hug movement (Emily wrote about) has begun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
When I accidentally found it for the first time when browsing web, it have touched me so much.
To get a hug can be great, but to be able to give a hug to the right person at the right time can really be the best thing in the life.
-The moment after you've finished cleaning your apartment (or in the case of some of you, house) and everything is in it's right place, not to be disturbed for the next 42 minutes.
-The first warm week after a bitterly cold winter.
-Sleeping with the windows open on a cool, rainy night.
-Mix cds. Giving and receiving.
-Taking (digital) photos.
-Scrabble (yes, I'm a word nerd).
-Having someone yell "Kulka" at you, because nine times out of ten, you're the only one in the room.
-Helping little kids up when they fall.
-Having a friend who will grab your guitar and perform a rendition of Neutral Milk Hotels 'Two-Headed Boy' so loud you're afraid that your neighbors are going to bang on the wall.
Some not quite as free, yet still wonderful, things:
-Time spent in the darkroom. Yes it's smelly and you'll leave with a headache, but it's well worth it.
-Having dinner/drinks with friends. Especially if you're sitting around someones apartment all night making fun of the tv/each other whilst doing it.
-Roadtrips. Even if the destination isn't all that exciting, the conversation is always better during a four hour car ride.
-Having tickets to a Ted Leo concert. Having friends who actually know who Ted Leo is and are going with you because they want to, not through any form of coercion.
Oh, Sasha, another Scrabble fan! How I wish we could have another family reunion. I think Kathy and Emily would gradly make a foursome with us. And Cholada is amazingly good at it. The first time we played, she beat me!.
Any other takers?
Hey! Hey! Hey! Who do you think taught Sasha the game?
Reunion? We've come out to your side of the country several times in the past several years. Who's game to come visit us this summer?
Um California is ten times better than N.C.
Lets make it in CA.
Also, not all of us are fans of Scrabble. Full contact football anyone?
AK: "Full contact football anyone?"
Okay, but I get Grandma on my team. You know the best QB's are the ones who can "thread the needle."
Ha ha ha how about full contact scrabble? We will put the board on one side of the room, and the dictionary on the other. First to gain complete control of the dictionary before both feet go out of bounds gets the word :)
My dad and Dusty (or was it Peter? maybe both) do not play Scrabble unless they absolutly have to. However, one time my mom and I had left the Scrabble board out when we went on some errand. When we returned, we saw the board left over from a Scrabble game the boys played. Their rules - you have to use only things that aren't actually words, but sound like they totally could be. The board was filled up with thinks like "amoshes" "werkle" and so forth.
Also - on kharma. Cody and I were driving THAT drive up the 5 north to Sonoma (some of you know exactly what I am referring to) There are only two lanes, and most of the time the general rule is slower drivers and trucks on the right, and then pass in the left lane. However, there was this pain in the rear little zippy car zooming dangerously around everyone, showing off two very large offensive stickers on the back window. We just shook our heads as he zoomed by - but could help laughing as we passed him a few miles later. Apparantly he tried to cut off a big farming tractor truck, and wound up in the bushes. His car was totally dirty and wrecked, and the big no-nonsense truck driver seemed to be lecturing the young punk driver. Very funny. Added bonus - naturally nothing at all was wrong with the big truck he cut off. Ha ha ha.
OK, Uncle Matt, I'll be your QB. Just get me a popemobile to stand in. And only if our Scrabble game is scheduled first.
Vit, I went to the website you told us about. The video came up, but I do not know how to get it to start. Do I have to sign in or something?
(We cool grandmothers still need help sometimes.)
Hey Grandma,
I just clicked on the website, and it started playing. However, your internet might be a tiny bit slower, so click on the website a wait a little bit - see if a little red bar starts filling up under the video screen. If so, wait until it fills up, then push play (should be a button just under the video screen) its worth the wait - great video! Thanks Vit!
Thanks Emily for substitute me. I am 9 hours ahead (or 15 hours back ? :-) so I am not able to answer so fast.
Just a note - sometimes video starts automatically, sometime requires just to click on it.
Here is maybe a better link which explain a history of this campaign: http://www.freehugscampaign.org/
Hey, and what about reunion in Prague? To do not fight whether CA is better than N.C. :-). We have so small apartment that I can promise you really full contact Scrabble :-) And with the Czech dictionary only! Emily, do you remember that full contact dinner in our kitchen we have all together when you and your family visited us in our apartment?
Thank you, Vit and Emily team. It is a good thing I have plenty of time - I did get to see the video, after the little red line took about 20 minutes to get where it was going. Soon I will check out the other link you gave us, Vit.
Thanks for the suggestion that we all meet in Prague. It is a nice dream for us to have.
Wake up everyday and walk to work in my beautiful backyard. Be around all day by my love Waffle and Shadow (cat),1 tortoise (Rockie),and 28 small turtles.Discuss about work with my boss (David).Going to have lunch/dinner with coworkers including David. Go to bed with my husband.
Wow! Too good to be truth.
Dear Stinky, I really enjoyed your list of best things, once I realized my mistake in thinking that you were suggesting something for our next family reunion. ( I had just read my response to Vit's suggestion that we meet in Prague.) The truth hit me some time after I read "Go to bed with my husband."
Mom, What are you thinking? Do we have the same thought? No....Yes...Hmm..
I am thinking you got me all confused, and made me laugh.
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