Three Things – Day 1. – fiftyfreeandsingle

A friend has given me a task to carry out each morning, when I wake up I am to find three things for which I am grateful. Now I know that on some kind of level this is an old touchy-feely ruse, a way of making me slightly less grumpy with the world (and myself) by reflecting on the positive, but what the hell, I’m up for it, let’s give it a go.

Right, first things first, I am thankful for Farideh, my task setting friend.

They say that people sometimes appear in your life just at the time you need them to, well that has happened to me more than once, I don’t believe this happens by preordination, it’s more a luck thing, it just happens, and one day Farideh happened.

We met at a Yoga class in India, there I was on a mat attempting to contort myself into some asana or another when I spied Farideh on an adjoining mat.

There was something about her I found very attractive, I can’t tell you what it was exactly, but I spent the next few classes not concentrating on Yoga but instead peekng at her, I found myself looking forward to each upcoming class, because she might be there, after a few classes I plucked up the courage to talk to her.

Half a dozen years later we remain friends, despite living in different countries.

We’ve met up in Germany & Portugal & in Greece, I think of her as someone that will remain my friend wherever life may take us.

Now how would I describe this woman?

Well I would begin with her eyes, she has two of them, they are dark and warm.

She is one of those people that I’m certain Shakespeare was thinking of when he talked about the eyes being the windows of the soul. Her eyes make me think of warmth and intelligence, of someone who looks at the world with openness and curiosity and no small amount if innate wisdom.

She is the possessor of a fine nose, I do like a good strong nose, they are by far the best of probosci on which to balance sunglasses.

She has a dirty laugh, the best people I’ve found laugh like troopers. Her voice makes me think of chocolate, it’s silky smooth.

She is a courageous soul who speaks her mind & possesses an admirable strength of character.

She likes to dance and does so with a passion.

Beyond these things there are many others, but to keep it simple she is a decent and lovable individual with an open heart, the world is a better place with her in it and I am lucky to know her.

Today is Easter Sunday, the two other things that I have decided on being thankful for today are down to an Ethiopian Goat Herder & nature itself.

This morning these two things come together as I sit in my kitchen – because one is my coffee and the other the sunshine streaming through the kitchen door.

Coffee – oh my gawd I love coffee, not just any coffee it has to be said, but a good cup of coffee, ground, dark and strong, it can be espresso’d or French pressed, it doesn’t matter. To it has to be added milk, preferably full fat, none of that vile skimmed business. At a push oat milk is ok but try giving me rice milk or soya milk and I will spit in your eye and and place a Gypsy curse on you.

I think of Coffee as a gift, rumour has it that it was first discovered by a Goat Herder in Ethiopia who’s charges became very excited when they found the berries of some bushes. Kaffa as the the herder was named tried the beans, the rest as they say is history.

I am eternally grateful to that man for making my mornings happy. Thank-you Kaffa for the gift of coffee.

Third it’s morning sunshine. I am sitting here now with sunshine pouring in through the back door of my home in London and it is fucking glorious, you know what I once told myself? That London is just always full of grey skies, that to get proper sunshine you need to be somewhere far away from here, well lately I’ve realised how wrong I was, I’ve taken to leaving my bedroom curtains open wide when I go to bed, then in the morning I wake with the first glimmers of light high toward the horizon, sometimes I just sit there in bed and watch the light grow for a wile, until a little after five the first glimmers of morning come, first rays bending from beyond the visible horizon, then wispy clouds are backlit in rose golds and by six the sun makes its triumphal entrance & there before me is a brighter lighter world and a new day filled with possibilities to be discovered.