Instacontent

The All-Knowing One over at The Bus of Love posted this nifty alphabet meme where you get a letter and have to list ten things you like that start with that letter. I got "L", which immediately made me think of the Bert & Ernie La, La, La song that Temp played for me, but the only "L" word I could remember from it was "light bulb" and whatever long one it was that Bert was really proud of: linoleum? liniment? Regardless, nothing that was going to be particularly helpful.

Anyway, here's my list.

1. Life. Yeah, let's just get that out of the way right off the bat. Life. I'm a fan! Mine has treated me extraordinarily well, the least I can do is show it a little love in return. (Which reminds me, love? Not on the list even though I like it and all. I figured life could be the token Big One.)
2. Lakes. Clamshell lake in particular, because it's where my parents have the trailer, where I go for my Week of Solitude, where I can go diving off the boat or take the canoe out or hike around the island or just sit around and read all day. Never am I so content as at the lake, and while I would never give up WoS, it's even better when other people are up there with me.
3. Liquor. Beer, wine, mai tais, G&Ts, Things That Are Good in Hot Chocolate, it's all good.
4. Lavender. It's pretty, it's easy to grow, it's a yummy addition to Earl Grey tea, and it's a girly scent that I actually like, which means I'm not completely screwed when I want to buy a smelly shower gel or something. Plus I tend to associate it with Syl, and I like things that remind me of my friends.
5. Literature. Big surprise from the English major, right?
6. Leinenkugel's. My grandparents lived in Chippewa Falls when Leinie's was just the local beer. I used to fetch bottles for my grandpa from the cold room, where they also kept those ubiquitous stacks of old Readers Digests and the beautiful lion piano that was the most painfully out-of-tune instrument I've ever had the pleasure of playing. I had a Leinie's sweatshirt that my mom only let me wear because before they were bought out by Miller, nobody knew Leinenkugel's was a beer. It felt like getting away with something bad. Besides, Leinie's Red? Ain't half bad.
7. Libraries. I don't take advantage of the library system nearly often enough, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate what a marvel it is. Libraries are one of those things that restores my faith in humanity and society.
8. Laughter. Ranks right up there with sex, showers after a camping weekend, and backrubs in the list of things that just feel great. And unlike the others, you almost always get to laugh lots of times every day.
9. Lilacs. Yes, daffodils and tulips and crocus are the harbingers of spring, those first hopeful, fragile bits of color, but I can't see them without thinking Easter and the Resurrection and attaching all sorts of symbolism. But lilacs? That's pure spring, baby. Nothing puts a song in my heart and makes me want to dig in the earth like those massive banks of purple by the roadside. And they smell good.
10. Leicester cheese (red). Because I know y'all have been waiting for cheese to show up. I really do love this one. I had it first in London, and I was half-excited and half-leery to discover it at Surdyk's. Excited for obvious reasons, leery because it's always possible that it wasn't as yummy as I remembered: that I only thought it was yummy because I was eating it sprawled out on the grass in a London park, at the very beginning of the Europe trip, with a cold cider and fresh bread. But no, it really is good all on its own.