Every once in a while I like to share some great yet simple things that keep me happy. These are what has brought me cheer lately:
1. El Primier Mundo Cigars
I discovered the mild taste of these guys a couple of years ago and took a break from them to find other things I liked. I recently returned to this label (yesterday) and was blown away again by the consistency of the taste. I like a lighter, mild, nearly bland but nuanced taste in my cigars and always search for the Connecticut wrappers in a humidor. (Connecticut is a lighter shade of wrapper and usually indicates a lighter smoke.)
2. The Hummus Sampler from Whole Foods.
Whole Foods is like shopping in a suburbanized carnival. Prepare to overpay or pay for quality, however you want to look at it. There’s a square sampler dish that they carry that’s got four compartments in which they put tabouleh, garlic-feta hummus, jalepeno-cilantro hummus, and creamy traditional hummus. Holy hell. This is the dip tray for people who are scared of hummus. It’ll hook them. When I fork over the $6.99 for this delight, I feast and nibble on it for about four days.
3. Ice Water
No, seriously. I was addicted to Coke Zero for a while and had to stop when I got up to eight cans a day. It’s bad for the calcium in your bones, messes up your teeth, raises the acidity in your body, and dehydrates you. Now I’m back to drinking ice water all day again, and it’s (literally) refreshing to drink in order to satisfy thirst instead of taste.
4. The sand and water.
Finally made it to the shore again almost four years later. I missed the sound, the sand, the air, and the view as you look down the beach and the houses disappear. I missed the way your feet sink down into the sand with each rush of the incoming waves while they cut in beneath your foothold.
5. The Sunset.
I grew up in coastal Florida and I have to admit that I never stood or sat still and watched the sunset before. I was in Destin, Florida a few weeks ago and I got to stand on the beach next to my best friend and watch the red sun press itself into nothingness in the gap between the sea and the sky. The incoming waves left a temporary glaze of water on the smooth surface of wet sand that became a mirror that appeared and reappeared with each wash. In it, I kept glimpsing the brief but full reflection of the reddish purple skyline. I thought it was pretty special, and I walked back to meet my “adopted” mom, and she had tears running down her face. That pretty much confirmed that it was one of the greatest things, and we all got to share it together.