Jan/Feb 2024 (Volume 16, Issue 1)

 

By Arvid Huisman

 

One of the advantages to growing up on farms and in small towns in the 1950s and 1960s was the simplicity of life. Sadly it is largely a way of life we have lost. 

 

On a Saturday night my wife and I drove through the countryside and discovered a beautiful county park we had not visited before. We saw picnic tables tucked away in wooded recesses throughout the park. We agreed it has been a long time since we had enjoyed the simple pleasure of a picnic. 

 

Where I grew up, families got together on a Sunday afternoon or a week night “for company.” There were no planned activities; just a few hours of conversation and, usually, refreshments. My siblings and I loved it when we got together with a family with kids our age. These days I love unhurried conversation over a cup of coffee. It is a simple pleasure not experienced often enough.

 

While I appreciate the efficiency of “pay at the pump” technology, I sometimes miss going into the local gas station to pay for my gasoline. Back when you knew the gas station’s owner and employees, a short (sometimes long) visit was just part of the routine. Some of the funniest jokes I’ve heard were heard in gas stations. It was a simple pleasure.

 

There was a time when you knew your neighbors and you knew the folks who lived several blocks (or more) away. Taking an evening walk always took longer than necessary because you stopped so often for a conversation along the way. 

 

Since we moved into a retirement community, we are experiencing this neighborliness once again. Like us, our 55+ neighbors appreciate the simple pleasure of conversation. 

 

One of the joys of country living is stars. You can’t see many stars in town but out in the country, away from the yard lights, you can see millions of stars on a clear night. Lying in the grass on a summer night staring at the stars — that’s a simple pleasure I haven’t experienced for many decades.

 

How about falling asleep to the lullaby of rainfall? When you’re a kid you don’t worry about flooding, the condition of the roof or if there’s hail in the forecast. You just lie there and listen. And listen. And soon you’re asleep … for the entire night. A simple pleasure.

 

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