List of Perfect Things

Do you have one of those books that is so you, you almost feel gypped that someone beat you to writing it? And, at the same time, you are so thrilled that someone else out in that big, big world is an awful lot like you?

There is a book I treasure called Love Walked In by Marissa de los Santos. For me, it is one of those books. I love it for the way the narrator talks right to the reader. (I just love it when books do that.) I can relate to the way the main character always imagines her own life as an old movie. I love the quirky descriptions of people. Most of all, I love this book for the surprising love story. (Some time I will have to tell you how I came to read this book, but that's another story.)

Tonight I started reading this lovely book again. In the first few pages, I was struck by a list of perfect things. The main character was talking about Philadelphia Story, which now I have to watch again, and she said the movie belonged on the list perfect things. Being the compulsive list-maker that I am, I had to sit down and make my own list of perfect things. The first six on my list are from the book. The rest are my own. I hope you enjoy a few of my perfect things.

• a starry sky over the desert

• grilled cheese sandwiches

• The Great Gatsby

• the Chrysler building

• white peonies

• those little sketches of hands by Leonardo da Vinci

• hot pink post it notes

• the Mall in Washington D.C.

• the duets of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

• Etta James singing At Last

• a perfect triangle of Baklava, dripping honey and bringing back all kinds of memories

• To Kill a Mockingbird

• that moment your newborn daughter stares into your eyes and you know her, bone deep

• a hammock under the trees in early spring

• Monet's Waterlilies (in person - not those insipid reprints on umbrellas and totebags)

• Van Morrison's Crazy Love

• MoonPies and RC Cola

• polka dots

• the very first daffodil of spring

• My Fair Lady, the scene at Ascot

• huge, old, curly brass beds

• VW Bug convertibles, vintage or otherwise

• Airstream trailers

• ferry boat rides

• faded vintage quilts

• Niko blue hydrangeas

• dimpled, pudgy baby knees and feet

• windmills, silos, and old red barns

Wishing you a perfect day to add to your own List of Perfect Things.

Sursum Corda!