A Few of My Favorite Things

It is taking quite an effort on my part not to use this space to vent my reactions to Sarah Palin's debut speech and the Giuliani tirade that preceded it. Instead, I decided to make a list of a few of my favorite things in life, the vast majority of which, I realized with a combination of relief and gratitude, would survive a McCain/Palin administration. Here goes, in no particular order --

- My fiance, especially his keen mind, good looks, and goofy sense of humor
- My parents and brother
- Jacob and Amos the dogs and all the endearing and funny things they do to make me smile
- The wonderful, small-town feel of my Capitol Hill neighborhood, and the many friends I've made while living there
- My home state of North Carolina, particularly the beaches, the mountains, and the beautiful green smell that permeates the air of the Piedmont region in between
- Congressional Cemetery
- The National Arboretum
- Really great massages
- Reading books, especially outdoors on a beautiful day while dining al fresco
- The voices of Cecilia Bartoli, Kiri te Kanawa, Samuel Ramey, and Thomas Quasthoff
- The music of Beethoven and Bach
- Lazy Sundays
- Cooking, especially for people I love
- Going on long walks
- Feeling that I am making a positive difference in the world
- The afternoon light in my upstairs den as the sun hits the skylight
- Taking good vacations
- Living in a place where I can feel the full measure of all four seasons
- The English language and all its many, beautiful nuances
- Having a strong sense of familial and regional history
- Magnolia trees
- Lilacs
- The buttercups that blanket the cemetery in the spring
- The silence of snow
- Figs, in part because they are delicious, but mostly because they remind me of my grandmother
- Ideas and the free exchange thereof
- Wine
- The Lebanese Taverna
- The British Virgin Islands
- Living simply
- Contemplating the ocean and soaking in its healing waves
- Sitting by the fire on fall and winter days
- Crossword puzzles and sudoku
- Collecting art as I'm moved by it
- Going to museums, especially on a rainy day
- Santa Fe
- Doing work that I feel is important and doing it well
- The Constitution of the United States
- Watching Duke basketball
- Being on a sailboat
- Eastern Market
- Tomatoes
- Having choices (although sometimes I have so many that I get overwhelmed!)
- Being a Luddite in a techno-crazy world
- The Library of Congress
- Chanel perfumes, especially No. 19 and Bois des Isles, which smells the way I think heaven must
- Coffee, especially in France and Italy
- Architecture
- Sunrises and sunsets
- Sitting behind the fish pond in the Duke Gardens
- The feeling of knowing that I am truly loved

I probably could keep going all day, but my food-and-drink entries above have made me hungry so I'm going to stop writing now and go eat. And I'll do so feeling a whole lot better than I did before I made this list!