Life's Pleasures

Life is full of simple pleasures. I started thinking about it this morning after reading my sister-in-law's blog about her passion for roses. Gardening provides so many of us with an overflowing amount of pleasure but there are other things, too. Like soft, summer breezes on our face. Like the sweet sound of a child's giggle. Like the smell of the Christmas turkey merrily roasting in the oven. Like the taste of an ice-cream cone dripping down our hands in the heat of the day. I know there is evil in the world but there is also much beauty. I love to watch my grandchildren's animated faces as they tell me about their lives. I love to watch a little sprig of plant develop roots in a glass of water. Shared laughter with someone I like is pure pleasure. Waking in the morning and seeing my newly painted bedroom when my eyes first open makes me happy. Breaking even at the casino makes me feel like a winner!

I read once that happy people choose to be happy. I suffered from depression from my 20's to my 50's and my memories of that period of time is that I fed on the misery, allowing it to envelope me. Counseling saved my life and taught me that I truly did have choices. I choose to be happy and I am!

DRUGHOUSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

I live in a nice neighborhood, not an upscale one but a very nice working class area. A couple of years ago a young drug dealer rented one of the houses on my street....all the others are occupant owned. Since then we've been dragged from our sleep by his customers leaving the house between 1 A.M. and 5 A.M. and yelling filth. Teenagers from the local high school even frequent this house at lunch time. Since this young man is known to the police and the partying goes on most nights of the week, I can't understand why this has gone on so long without police surveilance putting a stop to it. The young man is related to one of the well known drug lords in the city so neighbors are rightly worried about reporting him or complaining about the noise. Last night, at 4 A.M., I was fed up and phoned police to stop the noise but, of course, by the time police arrived all was quiet. Now I wonder if I've put myself in danger by complaining.

One thing I've learned in my life is that law abiding, tax paying people are not as quickly protected by law enforcement as we'd like to think. Criminals know all the loop holes and weak points in the law. They use our tax dollars for lawyers to defend them even when they've been caught in the act. Many jails have been turned into spas because of "human rights" activists. I can only hope my local drug dealer will move away one day and then my nice little neighborhood will return to normal. This is a selfish thought, I know, but its the only reasonable outcome I can expect.