Things that Give Me Pleasure/Joy (July '08)

Seeing the moonlight reflected on Lake Washington from our living room window.

Library books – ones I pick out based on the nice cover and decent summary in the book jacket. Then if I start reading them and they bother me or I don’t like them, I just take them back. Very little cost. But often I really enjoy the books, and I look forward to times when I can read them.

I also love kids’ books from the library. Books we’ve read before or ones I have read to the older boys – Cordoroy, Curious George, Arthur, Clifford and many, many more. I love reading to the kids. I love that Billy learned to read this year.

I love the excitement of swim meets. I get nervous for my boys, but I enjoy watching them race. Of course I love it when they do very well and improve their times and “qualify” for prelims! I enjoy chatting with parents of other swimmers on the sidelines, eating the concession food (chicken burgers, or if we’re lucky, Caesar salads with salmon), and watching the other races. The seniors are so impressive with their skills and speed, and they win very often. Home meets are the best, thanks to Ian Allan, a parent-volunteer who emcees the meets. He interjects many interesting facts about the swimmers and their families, even kids from the visiting teams, trivia contests, and other fun and entertaining comments.

I enjoy sitting in our living room at night and watching the airplanes line up in formation to land at Sea-Tac and take off. From our house we often see a “V” of airplanes, sometimes as many as 9 or 10, made up of the planes landing and those taking off. We see planes from all directions circle over our area to head in for their landings. We also watch the lights of the boats that may still be out on the lake.

In the early evenings, or close to dusk, it’s fun to watch the Kenmore Air seaplanes land in the cove. We also watch hundreds of crows head east from their day of scavenging, or whatever they do west of us. Also, we see a number of bald eagles soaring above the lake and Bothell Way. They especially like to fly on days when the winds are strong and heading up the lake, as when a rain storm is on the way. They usually fly out in pairs, and we have seen as many as 4 or 5 pairs at a time.

In the summer, to the east we see one or (usually) two hot-air balloons floating above Woodinville, or some town in that direction. They are brightly colored – maybe rainbow or red, white and blue.

We do have a great view, with a lot to see, both man-made and natural.