Life's simple pleasures

My husband, Emmanuel, has a few acts that he calls life's little pleasures. These include stopping on a lay by along open country roads to watch the sun go down, munching on a bowl of corn, simply popped with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Of course I can't conclude this list without adding his best-ever pleasure, eating roasted corns.

I remember once on a drive from Ayia napa back to Limassol during one of our trips to Cyprus. We suddenly chanced upon a roadside stand of a corn roaster setting up his wares. Corn!, I shouted, not really for my own sake but for his (yea, sure!) Emmanuel almost brought the car to a complete standstill right there on the road and then whipped round the steering for a perfect u-turn. Boy, did I thank my lucky stars that the island's police were probably busy inside the city where they felt that unruly tourists only existed! I am still trying to remember how long it took before we could stand another meal after attacking the corn that evening. For the seller, it must have been the best day ever. Yep, this is one of life's simple pleasures.

The last weekend also went down on my list of a pleasurable period. In fact, I had a weekend many people out there would give all their wealth to have. No, I didn't pull out all stops on my credit card at the boutiques; neither did I spend an evening at the best French restaurant in town. I was home cooking and chilling with some of my children and their friends who came down from London. It was good having them and somehow, the house expanded to contain everybody. At one point, I had twelve people inside, with most sitting around the dining table. These were mostly young professionals like doctors, bankers and financial analysts. For the weekend, they forgot the world of credit crunch, sick patients and dwindling clients. It was joy and laughter all the way.

Having most of my family under one roof was a joy. I kept looking at them, listening to their peculiar laughter and feeling that all was well. Emmanuel and I exchanged a few smiles and hugs and thanked God for his blessings. He felt that I was spending a lot of time in the kitchen though. What he did not realize was that as a mother, it was simply the best place to be, then. What's more, I knew that I was not going to bother with cleaning up afterwards. My children are aces at that.

Yep, it was one of life's simple pleasures and one I could not exchange for all the gold in Christendom.