I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. – Laura Ingalls Wilder
I first blogged that quote back on Aug. 29, of 2001.
Last summer, right about this time, I blogged a few more simple pleasures that were apparent in my life, along with some quotes and photos:
June 7: The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn’t simple. – Doris Janzen Longacre
June 9: Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault
June 10: Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires. – Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching
There’s something amazing about living a walkable town or neighborhood. On Saturday, my wife and I walked the 6 blocks from our house to downtown Northfield where we had a beer on The Contented Cow’s outdoor patio.
On the way home, we picked up a few groceries at the Econofoods grocery store and carried them home. We pretended we were a geezerly couple, too old and blind to drive, but spry and fortunate enough to live close to a grocery store so that we could bag the goods home.
Last night, my daughter and I grabbed some ice cream cones at the Hogan Brothers Acoustic Cafe and strolled along the Cannon River in downtown’s Bridge Square, noting all the landscaping and gardening changes that city workers and volunteers had made in the past couple of weeks.
When we got home, we played frisbee in the street in front of our house while watching the big storm that spawned flooding and tornadoes slide off to the north.