I don't really spend a lot of time planning "my perfect day" but I think I've gotten pretty good at recognizing the Great Days when they happen. I can recall a few:
I went on a trip out to California to visit a very close friend of mine who I don't get to see nearly enough. We got up early, had a great breakfast and threw some extra bagels in the car. We snacked on these as we drove through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge and out into Sonoma Wine Country. We spent the middle part of the day driving to about 2 or 3 vinyards, drinking just the right amount of wine to provide some enjoyment without impairing our ability to get to the next stop down the line. We stopped off at Jack London's house (which is really neat) and then headed to the coast where we had beer and prawns for dinner and I saw my first sunset over the Pacific. Great day.
My wife was pregnant with my daughter and I got one last chance to head down to Florida with my Dad for a long weekend diving trip. We got up in the morning and did some great dives (saw a Nurse Shark and Spotted Eagle Rays), had a thick, juicy hamburger and conch chowder for lunch and took a nice long nap. Then we took a dip in the pool before dinner. We found this place that made fantastic paella and ate until we were stuffed. Then we headed back to the hotel bar, listened to the remarkably good house band until midnight and went to bed. Great day. And we more or less repeated it the following day too.
A couple friends and I went hiking in the Uhwarrie Mountains just a couple hours from where I live. The weather was perfect and the foliage was beautiful with the Mountain Laurel blooming all over the place. We camped down by a crystal clear, babbling brook and ate pasta salad with tuna for dinner, which was the best meal we ever ate (when you're hiking, every meal tastes like the best meal you ever ate). We sat around the camp fire talking late, late into the night with nothing to distract us except adding an occasional log. Great day.
There are lots more that involve spending time with my wife and daughter but they are so frequent that they all blur together in a sort of wonderful tapestry that forms the foundation of my life these days. It's really hard to be angry or pessimistic when you get so many blessings in life. I don't know that I've ever done anything to deserve all this but I'm thankful just the same.
