The legendary Mary Martin originated the part of Maria in Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.
One of the big hits from the show was a song about about raindrops on roses, bright copper kettles, schnitzel with noodles, and more of Maria’s “favorite things.”
A few of my favorite things: a scoop of vanilla on warm apple pie, any movie with Spencer Tracy, a grandchild’s smile, a check that was actually in the mail…
What are some of your favorite things?
And if you’d like to travel back to Broadway in December of 1959, and take a seat in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, you can hear the song for yourself:
Those moments in a football game right before the snap — the players militaristically aligned and still before the chaos.
My kids asking me questions of any kind (my 8-year-old watching a movie asked, “Dad, what are ‘the authorities’?”).
The Sign of Peace at a Catholic Mass.
Good, east coast Italian bread.
The smell of popcorn when you walk into a movie theater.
A woman doing anything even remotely maternal. Soothing a crying baby, holding a toddler’s hand while crossing the street… gets me every time.
Many favorite things but will try to keep it short:
Dark chocolate/sea-salt carmel
The beautiful Creation I live in–mountains, skies and clouds.
Quiet solitude
Great praise music & good ole classic country
When I’m able to help someone
The accomplishments of my children and my granddaughter.
Waking up each morning.
Everything else is secondary.
Have a great weekend, Jim!
“Every morning I get up and read the obituaries. If my name’s not there I have breakfast.” – George Burns
The cool sharpness of a pre-dawn summer morning here, the waning gibbous Moon hanging low in the sky, crows calling in the distance. In winter, the growing embrace of night as the sky darkens in nautical twilight and the brighter stars and planets emerge from the deepening blue.
The sparkle in my wife’s eyes when she laughs.
Being lost in a good book.
Just a few of my favorite things. Have a terrific Friday, Jim!
A hot cup of tea on a cold winter’s day (I am not a summer person, to put it mildly).
The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Spending way too much money on notebooks, pens, stationery, and typewriters.
Marshall Crenshaw.
Christmas music.
Turner Classic Movies.
Charles Schulz’s Peanuts.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
Tennis.
Gin & tonics.
Next week you have to ask us about our least favorites….
A hot cup of coffee sitting on a mug warmer at my side,
looking out the window and seeing that the leaves are cleaned and the grass mown,
glancing back into the magic forest and feeling the sore muscles that remind me all the trees and branches have been cleared from the trails,
then knowing that I have time for my absolute favorite thing–creating magic stories–from the beauty that surrounds me.
Hope you have an all-time favorite weekend.
The easy one is my children. The young Al, having beer in college, not in a million years could anyone of told him how much he would love being daddy. In August the big one turns 21. They are their own person, but daddy’s lap is still the favorite place to rest.
A 1969 Hot Wheels Ferrari 512S Speciale in hot pink. It was my favorite when I was 9, it still is. I still have my childhood Hot Wheels. And about 300 more. But that is my favorite.
My Great, Great Grandfather Sigmund Shlesinger’s books. Sigmund Shlesinger, served as a scout in the US Army in 1868 in the War for the Western Continent. His unit of 75 was trapped at Beecher Island, CO by maybe 900 Native American warriors. He was rescued by members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment (Buffalo Soldiers). One of the books is his copy of MY LIFE ON THE PLAINS BY G.A. CUSTER. It is a very old copy, but not the $10,000 version.
Wonderful! Colorado’s got islands? They did have a Coast Guard unit when I lived there, so maybe. An uncle was named after Genl. Custer. In 1868, my grandfather was 12 years old.
Beecher Island wasn’t much in 1868. The river diverted around it long ago. The memorial is near corn fields now.
Crows. 😉
Wildlife.
Nature, especially old trees. There’s just something about them I love; the stories trapped within their bark, the way they reach out their roots to dying compadres, and how they stand so tall and proud.
The moon & stars.
*Cole Porter lyrics
*a fresh and flavorful rosé from Provence
*tennis players wearing classic white — think Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Wimbledon
*a croquet lawn with a view of LI Sound in the 1940s
*Fred Astaire
I was in a college women’s glee club in the 1980’s. We were the nun chorus for a local production of Sound of Music. Hearing any of the songs now reminds me of sitting in the green room and trying to concetrate on homework while we waited for our cue to go on stage. A bit of a challenge for me (since I need absolute quiet to think), and the nun costume was a little restrictive, but it was a fun experience. I’ll certainly never forget it.
A few of my favorite things…
My family’s laughter.
The variety of smells in a pine forest.
Emma, our wirehaired pointing Griffon.
Any movie with Cary Grant.
Any book by Mary Connealy.
Meeting with my house church.
Orange blossoms.
Thanks for this. I really needed a reminder that I do have favorite things.
– Hanging out with my cousins
– Any kind of water in nature (just visited California and love the pacific waves, so much better than atlantic ones)
– Baking something
– Broadway music
– Any kind of music
– A movie or musical where not only the story is superb but the actors also have the best chemistry
– My family
– The memory of our son’s first smile
– My husband’s corny jokes and puns
– A clear night sky with the moon rising
– The smell of fresh-cut grass
– The end of a long run
– The hymns “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “In the Garden”
– The joy of writing
How could I forget?
Chocolate milkshakes and crossword puzzles.
One more. As it is Friday and the Shabbas will be starting in about 12 hours, Rabbi Randy singing Hashkiveinu.
https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/a-lullaby-for-the-soul-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/article_4f463033-5280-5c7f-b353-8c4e493eb2a4.html
Everything is going to be all right.
Dark chocolate, until recently, when I developed an allergy to it.
Puzzles. Astronomy. Wayfarers Chapel. Creedence Clearwater Revival songs; they dance me. 1-act plays. The nearby botanic gardens. Humor. Acting. Having written. Dream analysis. Psychology. 12-Step meetings. Massage. Ojai. Soprano Charlotte Hoather. Chess sets. Fountains. JSB & all the Killzoneblog denizens.
And going to sleep.
Thanks for the TKZ shout out, J.
You developed an allergy to chocolate, J? My condolences. I’ll eat extra for you! 😉
Ketchup and chocolate. Waffles and bacon. Not necessary all at once.
Not necessary all at once.
Whew! Waffles with bacon cooked in (my friend’s dad did it this way) is a delight. But no ketchup on chocolate…or on a hot dog! (Dirty Harry said that, and I’m not about to mess with him.)
Fish biting
a cat in my lap
a sunny afternoon on my motorcycle, riding the back roads
Nothing like cruising those backroads, Laura. Heavenly. 🙂
Children’s laughter
Sunsets from my boat over the beautiful MN lake I live on…
Making a return in table tennis/ pickleball or a move in basketball or other sport that is reflex-triggered and quicker than was consciously directed.(very rare to nonexistent these days)
A reader communicating that they loved my writing.
Good times with family and friends ❤️😍
Dark chocolate.
Riding my bike.
Our lady German Shepherd going after a squirrel like a hitman.
Walks in the orchard at harvest time. (Yes, we snatch.)
Music.
And my fave today . . . seeing cover proofs for my debut novel, The Master’s Inn.
Woot!
🙂
Congrats, Deb! The feeling never gets old.
Black coffee, dark chocolate, my husband’s smile, my grandson’s laughter, and long walks on country roads.
The song, “A Few of My Favorite Things”, the cloudless night sky at midnight, my family and kitties, songs that trigger memories, the smell of a new car…and a lot of things already mentioned.
– Annual reunions with my two sons and four grandchildren. One son lives in Virginia, the other in California. Every summer they spend a week in Massachusetts so their children can bond.
– The first story my oldest grandson created when he was six years old. He couldn’t write all the words so he dictated it to me. I still have the story, which is a mystery with child detectives, a plot, and a solution.
– The working waterfront, whether it’s for commercial fishing or cargo shipping. This always reminds me of my father, a lifelong longshoreman.
– A glamorous photo of my mother taken in 1950.
– The crispness and just-laundered scent of clean sheets.
– The first spoonful of my favorite chicken spezzatino recipe.
Since 2 people mentioned tennis for different reasons, I’ll also mention another of my favorite things used to be watching ATP Tour Tennis when Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi were active players. Two totally different players and people and both so much fun to watch.
A foot massage.
Curling up with soft, furry, purring cat in my lap.
Good wine.
Travel.
Casablanca.
I have managed to escape a forced viewing of The Sound of Music, only subjected to previews. Whew.