These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

Summer is already going so fast! It seems like we barely have time left to fit in all our favorite things to do. Soon enough we will be harvesting the rest of our gardens, getting kids back to school, and cutting firewood! I hope that you enjoy this summer weather and can be outside fishing, swimming, gardening, hiking, eating fresh produce, listening to live music with family and friends and our community.

My question to you this month is:
What is your most favorite thing to do in the whole wide world? Is it something you do daily, annually, by yourself or with someone or something? How long have you been doing this and why do you love it? Has it been motivated by the heart? Does your favorite thing have to do with sports, a craft, a hobby, a social group or a gathering? A favorite thing could be going to a special place to visit, or performing a traditional ritual that has meaning to you.

Marta
My favorite thing to do daily is to sing. I sing with a group of special ladies every week. The music brings joy to me and those I sing with. The rest of the week I sing a song daily, sometimes playing the piano, even! I sang with my sisters and parents growing up. It always brought us together and we all loved sharing the music. Music brings connection.

Austin
My favorite thing to do is to complain and overthink. I like to complain, it’s a natural gift. If you don’t complain, things could get nasty, toxic, and cause illness if you hold it in. I got married to be able to complain more. This is how I can justify my complaints. The English are the best complainers., and then there is gardening.

Xiomara
My favorite thing is hanging out with my friends. I have a friend from preschool I like to hang out with, Zenida. We have been friends for seven years. We have done ballet class together and taken too many selfies of ourselves. Now we ride horses together. She is kind and funny. She is the tallest kid in the class and I am one of the shortest.

Brian
My Favorite thing is making and drinking a really good cup of coffee daily, every morning I wake up. I love the ritual of it, the slow sipping, the smell, the steam rising from the cup and letting the morning go slow. My daughter Zara likes a honey steamer in the morning. Hot steamed milk with honey when she wakes up in the morning.

Paula
I have too many favorite things. I was raised around here, left, and always came back home. It’s my favorite place to live. I would rather be here than anywhere else. The scenery, the environment, my friends, where all the family is. Every day someone is meeting at my mother’s house. Family gatherings, cookouts, hikes, going for walks with my nieces and nephews. This is why I am here. A favorite thing in my past is riding motorcycles. I have been on a bike since I was young. It’s been three years since I have been on a bike. My kids say, wear a helmet, can’t go anywhere without a helmet. If I dared to do a favorite thing again, I would ride a Harley Davidson 3-wheeler (trike)!

Jennifer
I like to walk to my space of gratitude everyday. Every time I walk there the scenery changes. I live by the water; every day it looks different. It’s a place I pray for people in need. I feel joyous when my son joins me there when he is visiting. Eight years ago, I discovered it and started making it a ritual. I work my day around how to get to my sacred spot. My most favorite place to go to is Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts, my childhood romp and heart place. I cry every time I visit there.

Marcy
Well, that’s a loaded question. My favorite thing to do in the whole wide world is to engage in passionate connection. I am being very discreet here so I leave that up to your imagination. I think it might be better if you asked what is one of your top favorite things or your second thing you love the best. My second is a cup of chai every morning when I wake up. Wakes me up and helps with my body pain. It’s a ceremony. I make a cup of chai, pick a Tarot card, and I feel more awake and not as achy.

Lora and Jim
I could speak for both of us, pizza stuff is something we love to do in the summertime with family and friends. It gathers people together. We started making pizza outside on the barbecue nine years ago to avoid a hot oven inside. We experimented one evening. Now it is a custom. There is so much you can do with pizza, so many toppings, sauces and different crusts. We have four kids 8 and under, they love pizza and are our major taste-testers.

Jim has a story to add. “I am a forester for the Carson National Forest. One of my favorite things to do is climb trees to collect cones every fall. We do this for re-forestation. It’s important to know the seed source that is producing the seedlings. In the fall, the seeds are ripe. There is a government nursery in Boise, Idaho where they freeze the seeds from all over the forest.”