Simple pleasures

J.J. takes pleasure in simple pleasures. Of course J.J. has "the sun on her face" at the moment from love, the kind that I wake up each morning and pinch myself for still having, even after nearly 16 years. Still, it was a great list and I thought I could at least offer up something similar.

feeling someone you love squeeze your hand in public for the first time

them doing it for a second time and you realising it wasn't a fluke

hearing a voice saying out loud "I love you" and it taking a few seconds for you to recognise your own voice

hearing a voice saying out loud "I love you" and feeling your heart skip at your joy of hearing your loved one's voice

watching the person you love sleeping next to you, 'counting their eyelashes' [REM's "At My Most Beautiful" has some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written]

The love of someone good for you. For me, it's this man. At heart, I only have eyes for my Cloud.

Talking of which...

Clouds, especially at sunset, or cirrus against a strong blue sky...

Following on from that last one to a slightly more prosaic list, I would also offer the following as 'simple pleasures':

second hand bookshops

independent bookshops like this because just knowing they're there makes you feel better

losing yourself in a book

finally realising you want to treat food as something more than fuel

sitting and listening to music, not just having it as background noise (I like so many different types of music I couldn't decide on just one link)

the excitement you feel coming out of a really good gig and just wanting to buy everything by the performer(s) if you haven't already done so (ditto problem to above)

Looking at a city's architecture above the 1970s shop-street level (a pleasure my mother taught me well)

Watching a good film or TV programme with friends - communal watching; sharing your obsessional geekiness interest and knowledge and seeing them become as impassioned as you

And a final selection:

those whose passing acquaintance rewards you in unexpected ways: smiles, letters, conversations, recollections of conversations you never thought anyone would remember (least of all them), kindness, simple gestures and the touches of friendship

Good conversation - the kind that covers the serious to the silly, the mundane trivia to the moral debate, and where you have no idea how you got from your starting point to your current theme of discussion and you'd long since lost track of time but really do not care

True friends and treasured contacts - those who will unquestioningly help you out of the holes you dig even if they couldn't stop you digging them; those who will laugh with you at your quirks and faults and manage to make you laugh at them as well; those that you just can't help 'fessing stuff to 'cos you rather like being teased by them; those that you genuinely want to offer your support to because you know they deserve it

All of these and more are my treasured simple pleasures.