Simple Pleasures

My new favorite company is Saddleback Leather. Their business is simple: make quality leather bags that will last a really long time; buy nice or buy twice. I like the way that tastes. I started looking into the company and why they run their business like they do. The founder and CEO caught my attention immediately. His name is Dave Munson and he’s a special kind of brilliant– a flamboyant, love it or leave it sort of brilliant. He keeps a blog where he writes about his company and offers thoughts on life. One of the posts that he wrote was entitled “Simple Pleasures of a Man” where he listed simple things in life that make him happy (if you want to read it, it appears to be lost currently in the internet ether. I tracked it down here. ) He inspired me and I started keeping a list of the simple pleasures in my life. Here is my current list, in no particular order. I’ll add more as they come along:

• Snuggling in bed with my family on Saturday mornings.

• Nayeli running to give me a hug when I get home from work.

• Swimming laps after a haircut.

• Walks during my lunch break.

• Oregon blackberries.

• Seeing young men succeed.

• Playing in the rain with Nayeli.

• Letting Nayeli get wet and muddy.

• Painting just to paint– no form or function, just painting.

• Full moons on fresh snow.

• Good night hugs and kisses.

• Correctly identifying a font!

• Finishing projects at work.

• Driving with the windows down and the radio off.

• A newborn sleeping on my chest.

• Drinking ice cold milk straight from the carton.

• Jumping into a river on a hot day.

• Sandcastles.

• Beach combing.

• Mornings.

• Finishing books.