Category Archive

10. The smell. 

9. Face it, it’s one of the few legal stimulants you can safely brew in your own home. 

8. It provides a cash crop for Columbia that can’t be snorted up your nose.

7. It provides a handy foil for my half and half habit.

6. It’s just sooooo good with chocolate.

5. I get to say “Sumatra” when I order my favorite beans at Peaberry’s. (say it like this ‘SooooooouuuuuuMAHtraaaaaahhh’)

4. When it’s done, it’s done, I don’t have to wonder if I can get a stronger caffiene kick if I leave it in the pot for one more minute.  It only gets worse.  Whereas tea gets stronger the longer the leaves are in the hot water, thus I end up drinking semi-warm tea half the time.  Hot coffee is ready to drink the minute it’s through the grinds.  Unless you use a French Press, which, though it makes the best coffee, is a pain to clean. 

3. Holding the warm mug on a cold winter’s morning.

2. That lovely burn at the back of your throat when you gulp down the first sip early in the morning. 

1. The taste, really I love it.  Just half and half (see #7) and coffee, no sugar, no sprinkles, just the milk and the coffee.  I like espresso straight up. 

Some people don’t like the cold. I’m not one of those some people. I like the cold. I like winter. It’s 60 freakin degrees out there right now! I want a winter!!!!!

Top 10 List of Things I’m Missing
10. The cool pattern that frost makes on my windshield. I know where paisley comes from, it’s ice patterns on windows.
9. A reason to wear that yummy down coat gathering dust in the hall closet.
8. Teaching my nieces and nephews the joys of rolling snow angels. We don’t bother with the fall-back-and-waggle-your-arms-and-legs kind. We do the what-would-it-look-like-if-the-angel-came-to-a-screetching-halt-in-the-backyard ones. Much more fun. Then I log roll them.
7. Snowball fights. I love snowball fights.
6. The gleam in my father’s eyes as he revs up his snowblower. It’s an incendiary glow that comes only with power tools for him.
5. A reason to make hot chocolate from scratch.
4. A good reason to add bourbon to the hot chocolate I just made from scratch. I have lots of reasons to do that, shoveling the driveway is one of the good ones.
3. The way my world looks when it snows. I love the monochromatic sheen on everything, I love the cute bird tracks under the feeders, I love the evergreens covered in snow, the streets, the houses, the cars, everything looks wonderful under snow.
2. Interpretive and interestingly posed snowmen. Mimicking Calvin’s snowmen is worth hours and hours of fun. Especially the House of Macabre ones. Love that.
1. Snow Days. I work for a university and every now and then I get a paid day off to go do 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 & 9 and to enjoy 3, 6 and 10.

10. Sleeping with your windows open again after a summer of over 90 degree heat. 11 would be having a window fan, but it’s sort of redundant, so I won’t really include it here.
9. The clarity of the skies. It’s bluer than is possible in summer because the heat haze is gone.
8. Fresh Apples. Yeah baby, they haven’t really been fresh since last autumn. Right off the tree and soo perky.
7. Fresh Candy Corn. That hasn’t been fresh since last year either. Makes you kinda wonder about what the heck they sell these days, doesn’t it?
6. Planning to Christmas shop early. I know, it’s just plans and you won’t actually get any shopping done until December 22, but it’s nice to plan.
5. Did I mention that the temperature has dropped? If I weren’t scared of the repeater police, 10 - 1 would be lower temperatures. I am really really happy when the evenings are down below 65, when the days don’t go much above 75 and when it goes into the 50’s at night.
4. Crisp Fall Mornings when there’s frost on the pumpkins. And I love pumpkins too.
3. The changing leaves. In Maryland you can see every color right of verde: orange, yellow, red, brown and sometimes purple. I love the colors all different on one tree and then mixing it up with dozens of other species. It’s the best.
2. Leaf piles. I still flop into them every chance I get, I actually like to rake if I get to look forward to some quality leaf flops. Getting to watch the kiddies do it is the bonus round.
1. The smell. Every season has a smell, falls is simply my favorite. When the leaves start to rot and the weather gets colder, there is a metallic smell to the air that reminds me of the delicious anticipation of Halloween and Thanksgiving, and farther into the distance of kid-dom, the motherlode of all holidays, Christmas. That smell is a glorious thing, I cherish it, and breathe it in every chance I get. Even though I’m not a child anymore, well, mostly, I still look forward to the end of the year and winter in that first smell of fall. I don’t think you can buy a leaf rot candle, but if I could, I would.

These are the top 3 most irritating grammer issues, for me anyway.

3. Their, there, they’re. One is possesive, one is an adverb (as my friend the Queen tells me, not a preposition), the last is the conjunction of they are. These are different words used in specific instances. Different instances.
2. Had Went. You may have gone, perhaps you went, but never ever will you had went anywhere.
1. Your & You’re. Again, one is possesive, one is the conjuntion of you are.

Feel free to add.

Here is my list of reasons why keeping an organic garden ROCKS!

10. The smell of the dirt, it doesn’t smell like anything other than dirt, which means the smell is clean. That is a lovely smell.
9. You can assign children to work in the garden with out worrying what limb will grow out of their back in a week. Nothing out there is really unsafe for handling at anytime.
8. You can use that nasty light beer left over from a family gathering to catch slugs. You won’t waste it and you can then make more room for good beer. And it works.
7. Peas. Peas in June, right off the vine. Oh, my, that’s nice.
6. Eating a salad in which the only thing you didn’t grow is the dressing. (Olive trees don’t grow in Maryland. )
5. Raspberries, right off the bushes. right off, no washing.
4. The smell of the herbs as the sun warms them.
3. Mint. Just pick a leaf and crush it then rub it between your hands. That is a heavenly smell.
2. EVERYTHING tastes incredible. There are no chemical aftertastes, it’s all just really lovely. really.
1. Being able to barely rinse, or not, the things you eat. I need to find a waterproof salt shaker to keep next to the tomato beds, so I can just stand there and glut myself on sun warmed vine ripened heirloom tomatoes. The taste of fresh herbs on everything. Nothing like, really. There is such a difference between picked two days ago and picked three minutes ago.

Last night there was a fabulous storm and the fading light of the day mixed with the greening air of the coming storm to create really lovely light. The roses, peony, clematis and the rest of the flowers were just gorgeous. I took pictures which I hope to post in the next few days.

Friday Top Ten Lists
(Every Friday, give or take a day ending in y, I’ll do a top 10 list.)

Top 10 Reasons to pay for a pedicure:
10. Where else would you spend that hour on Saturday?
9. You’d never buy a whole bottle of “Arterial Red”, but you love that color
8. Those fun little toe separators and just-add-water flip flops
7. You don’t have to clean toenail clippings off your furniture
6. The massagey chair, oh baby!
5. The nap you get while in the massagey chair
4. The foot rub
3. Nail polish won’t migrate to your hips the way chocolate does
2. Someone has to support all those illegal-alien nail techs
1. Do you want to be that close to your feet?