Groucho Marx wrote he sometimes had coffee with his friend, Milton Berle. Mr. Berle liked coffee, and how well it was made effected his whole demeanor. Groucho once came to congratulate his friend on his successful show only to discover Mr. Berle looking low as if his dog had died. Why? The coffee was lousy. Another time when Mr. Berle’s career and stocks were spiraling down, but he found MB quite cheerful, happy as a clam at high tide. You guessed it: the coffee was hot and it had been made well his satisfaction.
I would like to think my demeanor is based on the ‘big picture’ and not the little things, but I know I have mood-determining matters like Mr. Berle and his coffee. Let’s list a few.
Beverages. Like Mr. Berle and his coffee, a well made cup of tea* (hot or cold) or a proper-made cocktail (no rubbish) sets the scene for a good meal or social. I’ve learned not to order hot tea in restaurants as nobody here in The States knows how to make one properly. I am wary of ordering certain drinks in certain bars or restaurants lest the bar staff doesn’t know what they are doing. By the way, a nice hot cup of tea is the panacea for all bad moods and ills. Do not dare to question this.
Laundry. Someone is quick to point out my moods and attitude are greatly influenced by the levels of laundry and its status. If the laundry is done, folded, and put away, my consequential insouciance is impervious until the dirty duds drawer starts filling up again.
Thunderstorms. Many folks (most?) become disconsolate in rainy weather but Urs Truly invariably cheers up at the sight of such, even to the point of excitement if there is thunder. Even as a boy I received a pending thunderstorm with all the excitement of Christmas morning. I get cheerful at the mere memory of some whoppers from my youth. The rainstorms in Arizona are called ‘monsoons’. They don’t last long and they seldom have thunder. Unlike Midwest America proper storms that roll in portending doom, they start suddenly and right from above. They are a big page 71.
Rolling down grass hills. This is an activity that seldom if ever fails to make even the gloomiest of days brighten with the radiance of a brilliant sunrise. While tea, cocktails, clean clothes, and thunderstorms can be disappointing, rolling down grass hills never does. Even a little roll is better than no roll, and the slope does not matter too much.
Come to think of it, this is the panacea of all ills and not a hot cup of tea, although the later is more available and less likely to stain the clothes resulting in more laundry.
47 comments
February 26, 2021 at 10:43 AM
jefferyrn
I would likely hit a tree.
February 26, 2021 at 11:23 AM
Urspo
yes, but isn’t it worth it?
February 26, 2021 at 12:02 PM
Ron
Never a coffee drinker, cold bottled water. Thunderstorms are nice, relaxing. Rolling down grass hills? Never did and don’t really have a yearn to do it. Just a food daily afternoon nap does tge trick for me.
February 26, 2021 at 12:16 PM
Urspo
I didn’t include naps on my list as they are hit or miss on making Life better. 🙂
February 26, 2021 at 12:48 PM
Moving with Mitchell
I never did like rolling down hills as I remember. Clean laundries and empty hampers are very satisfying, although that satisfaction usually DOES last all of 12 seconds.
February 26, 2021 at 1:48 PM
Urspo
how is your coffee?
February 26, 2021 at 1:03 PM
anne marie in philly
pizza, chocolate anything, gin gimlets (no rubbish), knitting yarns, blog friends.
February 26, 2021 at 1:49 PM
Urspo
pizza yes is something that makes the day merry – esp with achovies
February 26, 2021 at 4:34 PM
anne marie in philly
double pepperoni, or pineapple & ham – my 2 fave pizzas.
February 26, 2021 at 1:19 PM
Deedles
I don’t know of this ‘folding of the laundry’ of which you speak. Begone, sirrah! Coffee, stat! Thunderstorms? Yes, as long as everyone is safely indoors. Rolling down hills always gave me the itchies, but I did it anyway, and often. I do miss that sensation (the rolling, not the itchies).
February 26, 2021 at 1:49 PM
Urspo
good list that
February 26, 2021 at 1:45 PM
Sam
Fellow thunderstorm lover here! To me rain means no snow, and fresh smells when the rains tops, and dirt and grime cleaned away. I think I understand the mood changer of a good or bad cup of coffee.
February 26, 2021 at 1:50 PM
Urspo
lots of folks do !
February 26, 2021 at 1:50 PM
Will Jay
Related to that brief period in which the laundry is done is CSN, otherwise known as Clean Sheet Night. Climbing into a neatly made bed with fresh clean sheets at the end of a busy day helps put the world aright in the sense of the promise of a fresh start tomorrow.
February 26, 2021 at 3:16 PM
Urspo
indeed that is.
To be in clean sheets makes things feel all better
February 26, 2021 at 1:53 PM
Lori
I miss the thunder storms rolling in off of the gulf in Florida.
February 26, 2021 at 3:16 PM
Urspo
I hear tell they get some whoppers and often at that
February 26, 2021 at 5:10 PM
catrina56
Lori, I live on the Gulf in Florida, and yes, the thunderstorms are awesome! Coming from Illinois I thought I’d seen the mother of all thunderstorms. But here I can feel the low moan of impending thunder coming my way. I always run outside to ‘feel’ it.
February 26, 2021 at 2:42 PM
Linda Practical Parsimony
I never found a hill to roll down, but it would make me itch, so no. I like rain for the clean green look of the world afterwards. Coke and chocolate are a nice mood booster any day. And, I don’t drink hot things, so no hot tea or coffee. Number one mood booster for me is the sun! Then, I don’t care about any other aspect of the weather.
February 26, 2021 at 3:18 PM
Urspo
The Sun ! yes this is a good booster – until late May when its daily relentless presence makes it less charming. By September folks here are praying for cloud cover. hohoho
February 26, 2021 at 3:14 PM
Debra She Who Seeks
Is “rolling down grass hills” a euphemism for sex or something? It must be.
February 26, 2021 at 3:20 PM
Urspo
Tut ! What a scurrilous thought ! Clever Spo-fans like you tend to read between the lines and find all sorts of notions.
February 26, 2021 at 5:17 PM
Old Lurker
I am pretty sure the phrase started out that way but the semantics have drifted over time. These days sex is something Dr Spo does not write about lest members of his family are reading this. The exception is when his friend Bad Influence Michael is taking Dr Spo to the bathhouse, in which case he dutifully reports events like Margaret Mead among the Bantus.
Similarly, princess pooch Harper was not in fact named after the novelist who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, nor was she named for Canada’s favorite prime minister. Rather the name originates from a character in Angels in America. Sadly this history has been lost to the sands of time.
The funny thing is that Dr Spo lives in Arizona, and I did not know there were any grass hills there to roll down. Sand dunes, maybe.
February 26, 2021 at 3:45 PM
Robert
Reading your posts and comments lift my spirits 🤗
February 26, 2021 at 6:29 PM
Urspo
This is the best thing that has happened to me today; thank you.
February 26, 2021 at 4:15 PM
David Godfrey
I ordered a Hendrix dry martini in Conway, Wales, the bartender was clueless. The waiter came back and asked how to make it, then it had way to much vermouth.
February 26, 2021 at 6:30 PM
Urspo
Oh the pain.
In any bar it is hoped the staff are capable of making the ‘basics’ and the ‘classics’. Sometimes I walk into a bar and sense I better not order anything fancy as it will be bungled.
February 28, 2021 at 8:23 AM
wickedhamster
Martinis are, for some reason, particularly “foreign” to Europe. A couple years also, a columnist for the Post wrote a piece on trying to find a good one for his traveling companion in several continental nations. Generally, Europeans prefer their hard liquor unmixed.
February 26, 2021 at 4:31 PM
claudiajustsaying
I’m with Mr. Berle a good cup of coffee sets the day. . . just saying, Claudia
February 26, 2021 at 6:32 PM
Urspo
Funny I can tell a good cup of tea but have little taste for coffee other than it is weak or strong. One exception: Starbucks. Their coffee tastes like it was stirred with a piece of kindling on fire.
February 27, 2021 at 11:45 AM
claudiajustsaying
Starbucks is my least favorite, it is bitter to the taste
February 26, 2021 at 5:19 PM
Old Lurker
For me it is three factors: the aforementioned sunshine, whether my morning weigh-in was catastrophic or just disappointing, and whether I have had enough sleep. It is embarrassing how much these factors influence my mood.
February 26, 2021 at 6:33 PM
Urspo
“Getting enough sleep’ is the cornerstone for many to feel their day is good or deficit and they are not wrong.
February 27, 2021 at 12:00 AM
Raybeard
Milton Berle – one of those who looked funniest when putting on a ‘sad’ face.
February 27, 2021 at 6:00 AM
Urspo
Clever man!
February 27, 2021 at 2:43 AM
Parnassus
I’m not sure that we have a clear category here. Most of your and the commenters’ examples I would not describe as sentimental or mawkish. Perhaps “idiosyncratic pleasures” would be a better term, as distinct from the “simple pleasures” recently discussed.
I suppose my ultimate moments of perfection are those rare relaxing times that are both noise and scent* free.
–Jim
*Naturally, no one likes horrid scents, but these days there is a superabundance of perfume-like odors that I cannot seem to escape.
February 27, 2021 at 6:01 AM
Urspo
Someone avoids going into stores with soaps and candles as the aroma gives him headaches. He’s been odor-sensitive that way all his life.
February 27, 2021 at 5:22 AM
Pipistrello
Very tasty list. Your hill rolling needs fleshing out for the curious. I haven’t rolled down a hill since bosoms got in the way. I could anyways never get a satisfactory cartoon-style roll going, and would always end up heading off into an arc. Rubbish technique, obv.
February 27, 2021 at 6:04 AM
Urspo
I had not thought of that viz. the effects of a bust on the average velocity of downhill rolling. I suppose one could strap them down or closely embrace them to diminish turbulence. I vision a large hill of female participants practicing. It sounds a bit Monty Python.
February 27, 2021 at 6:02 AM
wickedhamster
I’m with you on tea/coffee, laundry, and thunderstorms, but I only rolled down hills, which I enjoyed immensely, as a kid. I don’t know why I gave it up…
February 27, 2021 at 6:07 AM
Urspo
For me it was vanity and fear viz. what would people think if they found out I was rolling down grass hills. Later in life I was became more at ease and not ashamed of this activity. Alas at my age it is an activity less often indulged in, but when I do it remains jolly good fun.
February 28, 2021 at 8:26 AM
wickedhamster
Call me provincial, but I am unaware of any grassy hills in AZ.
February 28, 2021 at 2:28 PM
Urspo
Not as many as I would like to have indeed.
February 27, 2021 at 8:32 AM
rjjs8878
Is Celestial Seasons tea, made in Boulder, CO, acceptable or rubbish?
February 27, 2021 at 11:48 AM
Urspo
I have been there! I have a lovely T-shirt from them saying “There’s a tea for that’.
February 27, 2021 at 11:19 AM
Parnassus
OK, I thought of a good one that fits this post. I love summer in Ohio (or similar latitudes) when the sun sets late at night–past 9:30. I love that feeling of the extension of the day, and it probably reminds me of summer vacation when I was young. Of course, if you go further north you will get even later sunsets, but only in exchange for some extra-severe winters!
–Jim
February 27, 2021 at 11:49 AM
Urspo
I remember my mother telling us boys to go to sleep in the summer months at 7-8 I suppose we would point out it was still quite bright outside so logic says we should stay up/go to bed when the sun sets. She was no moved.