Like, Dislike

Written on 22 October; posted today.

Things I don’t like (a.k.a. Things that fill me with desolation):

• watching my bus pull away from the curb when I’m still ½ a block from the stop
• realizing I’m making a mistake as I’m making it...then being corrected by my boss
• when I’m so tired that I feel homeless, like there is no place on earth I can go to feel comforted

Things I like (a.k.a. Things that reinforce the hope in which we live):

• chèvre and sourdough
• bakeries and pastries, oh my!
• a homeless man who gives me advice about rain patterns
• crimson maple leaves that transform driveway overnight
• expansive, generous hospitality
• getting cooking advice from the chefs at the restaurant
• vanilla pannacotta in a cranberry coulis with candied walnuts and candied basil
• getting my side mirror fixed for free
• getting a job when I didn’t expect it
• friends to pray with
• check me out:  I’m out of the house at NIGHT, on FOOT, by MYSELF, wearing PANTS!  Whee!  Join the conga line:  “fur-LO!  fur-LO!  fur-LO!...”
• burning candles in my room, now that it looks like a room and not a storage shack
• more to the point:  burning black candles in an iron candelabra in my dimly lit room when I’m tired to tears but listening to recently-acquired, soul-bulwarking music
• a well-turned phrase in an essay I’m writing
• learning new things
• trying something scary and succeeding
• realizing that I’ve made two new friends
• …or maybe three!
• friends from different Christian traditions who can testify about different kinds of prayer
• Mauritanian mint tea, but mostly the serendipity that goes with it